Panoplied
by Nightodie
Summary: What would happen if Shepard had made it into the escape pod. What happens in the ensuing two years? Shenko or course / Rated M for language and sexual content. A/U
1. This is a Rescue?

Ariana Shepard is a Paragon Spacer Sole Survivor. Love it/ Hate it … If you want more you can always let me know... let see where we go...

* * *

**This is a rescue?**

Shepard was making her way up to the cockpit and to Joker. She resisted the urge to look up through what used to be the roof of her ship. The fuselage had been ripped to shreds by some unknown ship that attacked them without warning or provocation. She had just sent Kaidan off to make sure the crew that survived had made it into the escape pods and was on her way to get Joker. She really did it so he would be safe. She could see the kinetic barrier covering the cockpit just ahead of her. She proceeded through it.

"Joker come on it's time to go!" she told him coming up beside him.

"No, I can still save her!" He cried.

She grabbed his arm and lifted him out of his chair "Oh, I'm sorry did you think you had a choice, I should have made myself clear." She shoved him over her shoulder and made for the escape pod.

"Ouch, Commander, let me go." Joker yelled.

"That's not going to happen, Joker, I am not leaving you behind, we have no time."

She threw him into the pod and jumped in after him. She got him secure just as another beam hit the Normandy. She hit the release and the door slammed close then the pod was ejected and she was slammed into the closed door. Then there was darkness.

* * *

She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She was in the escape pod and it seemed to be on the ground. She tried to raise her head but got dizzy and had to put it back down again. She groaned.

"Ah Commander, you're back with us." Dr. Chakwas came into view she had a breather mask on.

"You could say that." Shepard replied "What's happening here."

"Lieutenant Alenko has gotten the beacons up and we are waiting to be rescued. We lost Pressly and it looks like maybe twenty others, but I won't know for sure until I can get to my backup records. The planet is cold but Garrus and Kaidan have been able to put up heaters for those of us without environmental suits, and we have the breathers. Other than that, you broke Jokers arm getting him into the pod."

"Yeah well he didn't want to go, he is lucky that is all I broke." She growled trying to get up again. The dizziness returned "concussion right?" she asked as she lay back down.

"Afraid so, you're going to have to let Kaidan take care of everything."

"Yeah, well I'm not really into that sit by the side and wait thing Doc." She told her

"Yes, well this time you have no choice Commander, it's an order." Kaidan said as he walked up and sat down next to her.

The doctor left them alone because she could see where this was going and she wanted to give them some privacy.

"You think your going to give me an order mister?" she asked him.

"Well as I am acting Commander now, and you are my subordinate…"

"You are really pushing my buttons mister, you realize when this is over I will find ways to torture you repeatedly."

He grabbed her hand and held it to his chest "I look forward to it Shepard. You don't know how good it felt when I opened that pod saw you in there and saw you breathing… you can't imagine the relief I felt."

"Joker didn't want to leave. Did Doc tell you I broke his arm?" He nodded his head, she continued

"Well I wouldn't have had too if he would have cooperated. I had to grab him out of the chair and carry him to the pod. Isn't there some rule that says if the Captain of a ship gives an order for evacuation you have to follow it without question?"

"I think any order is expected to be followed. You can probably get him grounded for insubordination if you wanted to. But then who would fly your pretty ass around the galaxy."

"He is an excellent pilot. I will have to think of some appropriate punishment for him." she looked down at his chest where he still held her hand. He was wearing stark white armor with pink accents in flexible areas. She took her hand and banged it against his chest.

"Yeah, and about that armor, you know I hate you in that Phoenix armor." She told him.

"Yeah, Garrus thought it would be a good joke; he didn't know we were going to be attacked." He told her.

"Yeah well he is going to owe me big time, your regular armor is really expensive and now I have to replace it, along with all our weapons, and clothes, oh yeah and we need a ship." She closed her eyes and drifted off.

* * *

She opened her eyes and was no longer in the escape pod. She looked up and had a clear view of the sky which was really beautiful, full of stars and borealis lights. She felt pressure on her side so she looked down and Kaidan was sitting next to her. He must had fallen asleep. He was leaning on her using her stomach as a pillow. She could just barely make out his eyes through the electronic display in his face mask and they were closed. He looked so peaceful there. Well if he were sitting there then it was safe to say that they were still waiting to be rescued and he had gotten everything organized. Tease him as she might, she knew he wouldn't let her down.

She tried to lift her head to see if the dizziness had cleared. No stranger to concussions it was all a matter of time. The little bit she could lift her head without disturbing him gave her no feelings of dizziness so maybe she was healing, though she doubted the doctor would let her get up yet.

Speak of the devil the doctor came over to her and said softly, so not to disturb Kaidan "are you feeling any better Commander"

"Yes, I am actually, no more dizziness as far as I can tell." Kaidan started to stir as soon as he heard her voice.

"He is too attuned to you I think" The doctor laughed.

"Maybe" Shepard said to her, and then she looked down at him again and thought she saw his eyes open. "You're going to be sore you know." She told him

"I think we all are" he told her as he sat up and stretched.

"You know, I have been thinking. I wonder if having your ship blow up entitles us to more than a week's shore leave?" Shepard said and the doctor and Kaidan laughed.

* * *

It took the Alliance almost two days to send a rescue crew. Then there was all the paperwork and debriefs that they had to go through. They set up the crew in barracks at Jump zero for a while but then they were transferred to the Citadel because of Shepard's Spectre status. They still had them in several makeshift barracks, and there was no privacy. If this kept on she was going to see if she could find an apt or something to rent, she was missing her Kaidan time.

Now she was sitting in Anderson's office waiting for the verdict on a new ship. They hadn't found out who had attacked the Normandy and those other ships that were missing, and she wanted to get out there and find out who it was.

Anderson walked in with Admiral Hackett and she stood to greet them.

"Captain, I mean Councilor, Admiral. She saluted and then shook their hands.

"Yes Shepard, we have a problem, with the destruction of the Normandy, you are without a ship, and as a Spectre you need to have a ship." Anderson started.

"Yes and the SSV Antietam will not be ready for another eight to ten weeks. She will be assigned to you and is the Normandy's sister ship built to her specifications. The Captain that was originally assigned to her is a little put out, but he will be getting a brand new cruiser so no harm done." The admiral advised her.

"Eight to ten weeks sir?" she asked. That was a long time to go without a ship.

"Yes I know it's a long time Shepard, the only thing we have available in the interim is a merchant ship we confiscated from some privateers. It's been renamed the SSV Salice. It's small, but most of your crew will be assigned to help complete the Antietam so you should be okay there. It has speed and some big guns, but no stealth of course. But it should get you out there gathering information while you wait for your new ship. You will have Joker and Adams and a skeleton crew and your team, at least those who still want to stay with you."

"Thank you sir" she said hoping they were including Kaidan in her team, but she wasn't going to ask.

* * *

That the Salice was small was an understatement. They were going to be on top of each other for a while. There were just three rooms, the large cargo area and two small rooms. The alliance put beds in one of the rooms and the eating area in the other. They bolted work tables and things like that in the cargo area. The used prefab walls on one side to make a med bay and clean area for the doctor. There was one bathroom and shower area in the rear of the ship that they would have to share. The mako they were assigned took up a good portion of the cargo area. They wouldn't be able to drop it like they had from the Normandy, but they could use it to get around on the planets once they landed. Adams told them they needed to do some work on the ship. The wiring needed to be changed. There were some questionable devices wired into some of the ship's systems.

Adams, Garrus, Tali and Kaidan with several other techs were inside the ship working on bringing it up to specifications. Shepard was feeling left out so she entered the ship and found a control panel in a corner behind the mako that she could look at. She liked to take things apart, she just wasn't really good at getting things back together again. She could see Kaidan from where she was so she was sure at some point he would see her on the step ladder fiddling around and come over to her.

She had just gotten started with her dismantling; okay so she had taken out some screws and was starting on untangling some wires when she heard "Shepard, what do you think your doing?"

She looked down into Kaidan's eyes a bit disappointed that she had been caught so quickly.

"I am helping." She said.

"Yeah, the last time you helped we didn't have coffee for a week." He said. "Get down from there."

"I'm not finished yet." She said knowing she was pushing it.

"Shepard, will you please come down from there, I will look at it later."

Later, no later wouldn't do. Shepard thought to herself, but said "well if you're going to look at it later, there is no reason for me not to finish taking it apart."

He came over to the ladder and was now hidden behind the mako with her, only her head and shoulders were in sight by anyone on the other side of the vehicle. She still had her hands in the panel and was still unraveling some wire.

"Okay, you come down and I will look at it now" he told her.

"Okay" and she came down the step ladder and stood between the ladder and the wall so that when Kaidan climbed it she was inside it, and under him.

She waited until he had both hands in the panel trying to undo the damage she had done, and she reached up and started rubbing his thighs moving up towards the top of his pants.

"Shepard, stop it." Kaidan said.

She ignored him and instead started to come closer to the front of his pants.

"Shepard, stop someone is going to see."

"Yes, I know and doesn't that make it all the more exciting." She was chuckling lightly at his discomfort, which was getting more obvious the closer she got to the front of his pants

"Shepard…" but he interrupted himself with a deep intake of breath as she had made it to the front of his pants and was still rubbing him. He wanted her to stop, but they hadn't been together for a while and he was having trouble forming the words.

"Shepard…" he closed his eyes to concentrate but that just made it worse. "You really need to stop that."

"Why, I am having fun. Aren't you having fun Kaidan." And she gave him a little squeeze.

A low soft moan came from his throat. Then he was able to free up one of his hands and he reached to bat her hands away. She stepped back so he couldn't reach her. He looked down at her and she looked up at him with a big innocent smile on her face.

"Just stop it" he told her.

"But Kaidan, you don't really want be to stop do you?' she asked in a conspiring whisper. "You would love for me to keep rubbing on you, wouldn't you? Knowing that they can see you but they can't see me, down here touching you." She smiled at him slyly.

"So you're in a naughty mood today, huh?" He said, but even thought she had stopped touching him she was still turning him on with her words.

She took a step towards him and said "Kaidan, you have no…" Adams had walked in the doorway by the mako and had heard Shepard's voice.

"Commander" he yelled coming around to the back of the mako "You're not touching anything back here are you. You remember the coffee incident don't you?"

Shepard schooled her expression to surprised innocents while Kaidan tried to hide what her playing had wrought.

"Well I was touching something but the Lieutenant made me stop," she told Adams as she turned towards Kaidan and gave him a sly look. He blushed and rolled his eyes.

"Well it's a good thing too, who knows what damage you could have caused."

"Oh on the contrary Adams" she said as she started to walk away then she turned and looked into Kaidan's eyes and with a big smile on her face "I know exactly what I could have caused." Then she turned and walked away.


	2. Too Much Energy

Remember Bioware own all!

* * *

**Too Much Energy**

Kaidan got out of the transport and checked his omni tool to make sure he had the right place. Shepard had sent him a message to meet her here. Here was the outskirts of one of the ward arms where the damage was minimal. He walked up to a door with the numbers on it that matched the ones on him omni tool. He pressed the alert button. Shepard opened the door and pulled him inside.

"It's about time you got here" she told him. "I have been waiting for a while." She pushed him down on the couch and climbed on top of him.

"Can't be that long, I only got your message twenty minutes ago." He told her, running his hands over her hips, as she sat on top of him. She was only wearing her shorts and a top.

She moved her face down so that it was in front of his. "You're not questioning me, are you lieutenant?"

"Well Ma'am I have the time right— "and she covered his mouth with hers so he couldn't finish. If she kept kissing him like this he was going to get uncomfortable in his armor really quickly. He sat up with her in his arms and then sat her on the couch and started taking off his armor.

"Where did you find this place?" he asked her batting at her hands as she tried to help him "just sit there a minute." He told her.

"Barla Von found it for me. He said he owed me for helping Wrex get Fisk." She ran her fingers down his abdomen as he lifted his armor off his shoulders. He stepped back so he could remove the rest of the armor without her interference. "I wanted to have some time together before we got stuck in that tin can for the next ten weeks. There is no privacy there."

"Yes, as you so eloquently showed me this morning." He walked back over to her and lay down on top of her. "That was very mean of you, by the way." He said looking into her eyes.

"Oh, I don't know, you did seem to enjoy it." she reached around him and pulled him in tighter to her "I know I did."

"Yes you love to torture me." He told her.

"Well, I did warn you if you pulled rank on me I would have no choice…" and he never gave her a chance to finish her sentence.

* * *

"Now remember Joker if you see any trace, of any ship, that you can't identify you need to get us out of here super quick." Shepard told him as she stood in the cramped bridge of the Salice.

"I know Commander you told me that several times."

"I just don't want to have what happened to the Normandy to happen to this ship." She told him.

"Right, that would be bad." He said.

"We need to find Normandy's Flight Data Recorder. There may be information on there to identify the ship, or at least give us something to find these bastards."

"Shepard you have to face the fact that we might not be able to find this ship"

"Garrus they destroyed my ship, I will find them." She bent over the panel he was working on trying to read the information he was gathering. She reached up to clear a reading and he grabbed her hand.

"Shepard if you clear that reading I will lose the trail we have been following the last two days." Garrus told her.

She pulled her hand back and scowled at him.

"Listen why don't you go inside and bug someone else and we will call you when we have anything." Joker told her.

"Kaidan and Adams sent me up here. Tali isn't back from the migrant fleet. Wrex threatened to shoot me, and I would hate to have to kill him now. Doc said if I bugged her one more time she would sedate me. Somebody had better find something for me to do or else."

"What about Liara." Garrus asked.

Shepard rolled her eyes like that explained everything. Spending too much time with Liara just caused too many problems on both Liara's and Kaidan's side.

"Don't you have reports to fill out or something?" Joker asked her.

"No, all caught up, I do them right away so I don't get backed up." She told him.

"Well then go bug Alenko, he has to put up with you." Joker said.

"Oh, and you don't have to put up with me Joker?"

"No, I don't care if you're mad at me, it won't affect my love life."

"Joker I wouldn't be so sure that my being mad at you won't affect your love life" she said playing with her gun.

"Okay Commander, I get it now, put the big gun away."

"This is very entertaining, really, now could you leave us alone, so we can follow this trail and maybe get you the information you really want." Garrus told her.

"Fine!" Shepard turned around and left the cockpit. She heard Garrus tell Joker "you better call Alenko and tell him she's coming back and she is not happy."

* * *

As she entered the cargo area Kaidan was already heading towards her so obviously Joker had been able to reach him.

"You're making the crew very uncomfortable Shepard. You have to relax." He told her noticing she was in full armor sans helmet and had all her weapons on.

"I can't relax, may I remind you there is no privacy in this place."

"Why don't you run laps around the cargo bay area?"

"Because it is too small and there are obstructions all over the palace." She told him.

"Well you need to find something to do with yourself, what did you used to do on the Normandy when you got like this"

"Find you, find Ashley, sit in cabin in peace and read, talk to crew, talk to Pressley, Talk to Tali..."

"Yeah I get it there was more to do-"

"Go to the gym and run... make out with my boyfriend in said gym." she continued.

He ran his hand through his hair "I get it Shepard, I get it." _I need to find something to expend her energy in a way that won't embarrass me _he thought _if she stays like this she is going to start thinking of ways to torture me._ _Wait running, I have an idea_. "Do me a favor please Shepard." he said.

"Depends."

_Doesn't it always? _"Please go into the mess and sit with Liara for a while and talk to her."

"Wait, you _want_ me to talk to Liara?" she asked eying him suspiciously.

"Just talk to her, she has been missing you lately and I trust you." he told her.

"It's been over a week Alenko, I don't know if you should be trusting me." she said and she turned on her heels and headed towards the mess.

"I'll be in to get you in a little while." he told her, just in case she got any ideas.

* * *

Liara was sitting at one of the tables with several data pads strewn around. She looked up when Shepard came in, and she smiled.

"Hi Liara, what are you doing." Shepard asked her plopping down in a seat across from her.

"I am collating data that we have obtained so far about the Reapers. It is still broken and in pieces and I am trying to fill in the pieces."

"That's a good idea." Shepard said "So how have you been?"

"I am quite well Shepard, how are you?"

_Bored_ "I'm okay" She put her arms on the table in front of her and leaned on her elbows. "I would be better if we could find out something about the vehicle that attacked the Normandy."

Liara put her arm out on the table, her hand coming close to Shepard's hand but she didn't quite touch it. "Yes I can see how that would be important. If we find the vehicle we might be able to find out why they attacked." She looked in Shepards eyes. "I know that you need to find out why"

"Not as much why as in 'why us,' but why as in 'we did nothing to you why shoot at us'." She looked at Liara's hand and wondered again for the umpteenth time if she realized that she was always trying to touch Shepard. "More importantly does it have anything to do with the Reapers."

Liara had reached Shepard's fingertips and she started to trace the tips with her finger. "Well, we could, I mean if it's okay with you, we could try and see if there is anything more your in mind from the beacon, that might help us find out more about the Reapers."

Shepard was trying to ignore Liara playing with her fingertips because she didn't want her to get all silly and embarrassed, and really she wasn't hurting her fingers. "I don't think that's necessary right now Liara, give me some time, okay."

"Certainly Shepard, we will take all the time you need." she started to trace Shepard whole fingers one at a time.

Shepard left the hand that Liara was playing with on the table but moved the other one out of reach. "Yeah I just got rid of some of the bad dreams, I need time okay."

"Oh sure Shepard, that would be okay."

Trying to get Liara on a subject other the Shepard she asked "So Liara what would a regular day in the life of a Prothean be?"

Liara's eyes lit up "Well..."

* * *

"So Adams what do you think?" Kaidan asked. "It's in the corner so it's out-of-the-way. We can see it from our worksbench that we have over there, so we can make sure she isn't getting into trouble. And it should work out all her extra energy."

"It's a good simple design strong and made to last. Are you sure she will use it?"

"Pretty sure, although sometimes she surprises me I think she will like this."

"Maybe we should put privacy walls around it," Adams suggested.

"No..." _and give her a place to scheme I don't think so_ " no, I don't think that's necessary, plus we do need to keep an eye on her in case she decides to take something apart." He said, knowing that it was one of Adam's biggest fears.

"Oh there is that, yes that would be bad, and if this keeps her busy, it will also keep her out of my hair. Good idea Alenko, why don't you show it to her now."

"Yes Chief, I believe I will." and he left for the mess.

* * *

He walked into the mess and saw Liara holding onto Shepard's hand, which she dropped as soon as she saw Kaidan. Shepard didn't even flinch so he was pretty sure whatever Liara had decided to talk about, Shepard wasn't really paying attention. Liara's need to touch Shepard whenever she could was one of the reasons he didn't like them to be alone together. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, he did, it just made him uncomfortable, he didn't know why.

"Shepard, come with me I have a present for you from Adams and me." He told her watching her snap alert, he was right, she hadn't been paying attention.

"Oh sure, hey Liara it was nice talking to you, see you at dinner okay?" She smiled at her.

"Oh yes Shepard, see you then." Liara smiled back.

* * *

Shepard followed Kaidan back into the cargo bay and over into the corner opposite of the mako. He was in front of her so she didn't see what they were heading for, because she was too busy looking at his assets.

"So, what do you think?"

"About what?" she asked still staring at his butt. He turned around and afforded her a view of the other part of his body she was quite fond of. She smiled.

"Shepard" he grabbed her arm and pushed her in front of him facing forward so she could see her present. They had built her a treadmill from spare parts they had on the ship. Kaidan watched as her eyes lit up and she got a big smile on her face.

"Now you can run and you can watch what is going on in the room. We will all be in sight of you, so you won't feel left out and can keep an eye on us. Okay?"

She put her hand on his forearm and looked into his eyes, he could see the happiness there. "Kaidan, thank you. I love it." She turned around and found Adams looking at her from the worktable "Adams, thank you so much."

"You're quite welcome Commander, Anytime" he told her.

"I'm going to take off my armor and give it a try right now" and she headed for the bedroom where the storage lockers were.

As Kaidan watched her go he thought: _Yeah, I was hoping you would say that._


	3. Searching

Bioware owns all!

* * *

**Searching...**

"Shepard, we have traced the trail to a system where it disappears, but there is a batarian trail from there that leads away from it that we can follow" Garrus said.

Shepard was sitting at a table that has been set up by her treadmill so that she could run whenever she wanted (she did love to run). She was looking at several data pads. "Well then lets follow the trail and see where it goes, maybe it will give us a lead."

"Okay Shepard." Garrus headed back to the bridge.

As much as she wanted to find this ship, she had given Joker strict instructions that if he got a reading on any ship even remotely matching the description to jump out right away. This vessel just could not handle anything like that ship.

For the last week they had been following this trail both finding it and losing it while trying to gain some information about the attackers' identity. Now they lost the trail again. Shepard was just annoyed they weren't making any headway. Maybe they could get information from the batarians, she knew how to handle batarians.

They could always go back to Alchera and search for the flight data recorder, but she doubted it would give them too much more information, since the ship was unidentified anyway. Following the trail from the attack location seemed like it would give them the better chance of identifying the attackers. It seemed they had entered and left that system several times. To Shepard it still seemed like she was getting no closer to solving this mystery.

She threw the pads down and was awarded with several looks from around the room. She got up quickly and went over to the treadmill and started running, it really helped to calm her down and it also took everyone's attention off her, because once she started running they all went back to whatever they were doing.

* * *

Garrus, Kaidan and Shepard got out of the Salice on the human colony world along the outer reaches of the traverse that's where the batarian ship's trail ended. She walked up to the nearest colonist to inquire where she could find the governor or whomever was in charge. The male took one look at her and he turned his back on her and walked away. She could only stare after him.

"What was that about?" she turned to the men behind her.

"Well, most colonists in this area are not really happy with the Alliance, and you do have N7 armor on, so I assume that is the problem. Although it might be they don't like aliens in general either." Kaidan told her.

Shepard looked around to see if she could find a building or something that looked official or even a store or something like that where they couldn't just run from her. She saw a larger prefab structure on the south side of the landing area that might be a warehouse shipping area so she struck off for that location.

As they walked people would see them and pointedly turn away or walk away, after usually making a face or scowling at them. It was starting to get on her nerves and she started to play with her pistol.

"Shepard, you can't shoot them just because they are making faces at you" Kaidan told her.

"But if I pull my gun on them maybe they won't walk away." She told him.

"That is not the way to garner cooperation and you know it. That isn't the route you would normally take either."

"Yeah well, no one ever blew up my ship before. These people might have information I need and I can't find out if they won't talk to me."

"You're taking this really personal, Shepard" Garrus said. "We don't even know if the attackers knew it was us."

She whurled on him "Garrus, they—blew—up—my—ship! They killed my crew, my friends. They were unaffected by the stealth system. Maybe they didn't know I was on it, but they knew it was an Alliance ship. I am sure they knew what ship it was! It is – was one of the most famous ships in the Galaxy!"

"Yeah, this is really going to make them want to talk to us." Kaidan told her. She turned to look at him and then looked where he was looking and saw a mother with two small children herding them away from her quickly. She scowled and took off towards the large building again.

* * *

She entered the building through a large open door big enough to drive a transport into. There were shipping crates around and several people looked up at her entry, although most made faces or looked away almost immediately. She looked to see if she could find anyone who looked like they might be in charge and noticed several people look toward an older male that had two or three data pads in his hands that he was studying. She headed straight for him.

"Are you in charge here?" she asked him.

"Who are you, girlie?" One of the men said.

"I am Commander Ariana Shepard, Council Spectre, and I would like to know who is in charge." She said using her polite relaxed voice.

"You're lying, there ain't no human Spectres" a male off to her right said. She saw Kaidan turn to cover her flank.

She turned to the male that had spoken and in her most respectful voice said "There is only one human Spectre, I am her" giving him a bow.

"No shit, really." Another male asked.

She turned and gave him her full attention . "No shit, really" she nodded.

"Well we don't really care about the Council here." The official looking male finally spoke "In any case it's me you want. My name is Karl Lloyd." He didn't look up from the data pads.

"Mr. Lloyd, I am looking for information on some batarians that would have come by here within the last few days." She told him.

"We ain't seen no aliens here, lady." The male from the right said.

Well she went from girlie to lady, that was an improvement. "We traced a trail from one of their ships, definitely batarian, to this planet."

"Well if they were here, we didn't see them" Lloyd looked up at her and told her. Just then a female came running into the warehouse. She almost ran into Garrus but at the last minute he stepped to the right and she missed him. She ran up to Lloyd, oblivious to the strangers and obviously out of breath.

"Karl I can't find the Wallace brothers and I need to get the last generator on top of the tower." She said.

"Now Annie, I am sure they are around somewhere, don't you fret none." Karl told her.

"No Karl, you don't understand, I went to the farm and their dinner is still on the table. It looks to be half eaten, but there isn't anything out-of-place, not an overturned chair, nothing. They are all just gone."

"Odd of them to get up in the middle of dinner, perhaps there was an emergency at the next farm, who lives close to them. The Johnsons right? Ask Clem."

A man called from behind Lloyd, "I'm right here Karl, and I haven't seen Tom or Charles at all, since yesterday afternoon."

"Karl, only the Wallace boys can get the generator onto the tower, we don't have the equipment to do it, we need them." The woman he called Annie told him.

"I well know that now don't I, since it was my idea to use them in the first place. I did it so we could save the money we would have had to invest in a heavy crane. How about Cin and Paul, did you ask them?" he asked her.

"They are gone too, I am telling you then are all gone." she answered him.

"When did you see them last?" Shepard asked her, the female eyed her suspiciously.

"Annie, this is Commander Shepard, she's a Spectre for the Council." he supplied.

"Well I dropped off some of my crops at the house last night probably just before sundown. They were just sitting down for dinner now that I think about it." she told Shepard.

Shepard turned to Garrus. "Could that trail be twelve hours old?" she asked him.

"Could be Shepard, it was degraded a bit." Garrus told her.

"What are you thinking?" Kaidan asked her.

"Well batarians are slavers, maybe they took them." she told him.

"That wouldn't have been easy" Karl told her. "They were biotics, strong ones that's why we needed them to lift the generator in place."

"Both of them?" Kaidan asked.

"Yeah, twins, mom was exposed while they were developing." Karl explained.

"Shepard, what would batarians what with biotics, they wouldn't want to use them as slaves?" Kaidan told her.

"I don't know, it seems an odd coincidence that they are missing and we traced the batarians here." She told him, then to Annie, "can you show me where they live?"

Annie looked at Karl, he shrugged "Can't do any harm."

"Alright, come with me." and she led them out to a transport. "Get in" she told them.

Half an hour later they were almost to the farm when Garrus said. "Shepard I am getting a reading on that batarian trail. It's pooled here like it was parked for a bit or took off from here."

Shepard looked at Annie "how far from the farm are we now?" she asked her.

"About five or six clicks" Annie told her.

Shepard nodded her head. "That is close enough if they didn't want anyone to know they were coming."

"Still doesn't point to why, Shepard" Kaidan said.

"No it doesn't." She agreed.

They arrived at the farm a few minute later. Annie showed them around and she was right, it looked like they had just gotten up in the middle of dinner. Nothing looked out-of-place or strange.

"This is kind of spooky" Shepard said. "Batarians are usually violent when they take slaves, killing for an example or to impart control. This makes no sense."

"I also can't see them stopping at one family either" Garrus said.

"Well that leads me to believe they wanted these two because they were biotics." She said.

"But they wouldn't want biotics, there is too much of a chance they would lose them when they tried to control them. The inhibiters don't work well with the mass effect fields, they counteract each other. Even if they incapacitated them when they woke up they would have use of their biotics, that's why batarians usually kill biotics not capture them. They lost many batarians to out of control biotics" Kaidan said.

"This is a puzzle" She said.

They looked around some more, but still were not able to find anything to shed light on the mystery.

"Yeah well now we are never going to be able to get the generator on the tower without a heavy crane." Annie worried out loud.

Shepard turned to Kaidan "You and Liara could do that couldn't you?"

"Well I don't know how big it is, but yeah I think if the twins could do it then we should be able to. Why?"

"Well, it would be a good idea to help them, since as we are trying to figure out what's going on here and doing this for them might help to make them friendlier towards us. We might have to come back and talk to them here and it would be easier if they looked upon us as helpful instead of hurtful." she told him.

"I am not leaving you alone here with just Garrus, what if the batarians come back?" he told her.

"You have a good point. Okay I'll have Joker come here and pick you up, he can leave Wrex here with us and take you back to the space port so you and Liara can put up this generator thing." she told him.

"Yeah, okay that would work."

Annie was excited "You're a biotic, you can help us?" she asked Kaidan.

"Yes and we have another on board the ship who will also help." it didn't seem these colonists shared the general consensus that human biotics were to be feared. The Wallace twins must be pretty special to have won favor with the colonists.

"Joker, home in on my signal and contact me here. Tell Wrex and Liara to suit up."

"Aye, aye Commander, ETA eight minutes." He answered.

* * *

Shepard and Garrus were back by the barn when Wrex joined them. They still hadn't found any proof that the batarians had actually been there. While they were waiting for the ship Annie had let out the animals to graze and the barn was empty. Shepard didn't think the batarians would have gone in there with the animals inside but she checked it anyway. They walked out the back of the barn.

"Shepard I smell blood." Wrex told her.

"Yeah, I smell it too" Garrus said.

"Well obviously my olfactory senses are not as strong as yours, I don't smell it. Lead me to it Wrex." she said.

They walked through a field and back behind a rock they found a dead animal. It had it's throat cut. She wasn't sure what kind of animal it was but it must have been used for protection or alert, it had a collar on. It must have reacted to the batarians, which would explain why its throat had been cut.

"Well, this doesn't prove that it was the batarians, but it definitely proves some planning. There is really something weird going on here. And if this is batarians, what does it have to do with the ship that attacked the Normandy?" she wondered out loud.

"How did they take two able bodied biotics and their family without raising an alarm" Wrex asked.

"And how did they do it causing only minimal damage? That animal is the only thing that even remotely shows that something happen here." She added.

"Commander?" Joker said over the comm, "Alenko and Liara are finished. Alenko wants to know if you want us to wait here for you?" he asked.

"No Joker, come and get us. I have a feeling we have found just about everything we are going to find here today." she told him. "Garrus when we get back on the Salice you and Joker need to see if you can find the exit trail of the batarian ship, lets see if we can find where it went to."

"I will see what I can do, Shepard." Garrus told her.


	4. Evaluation

Bioware owns all, and probably my imagination too at this point!

* * *

**Evaluation**

Shepard was sitting in the cargo area with the team. Adams and the tech team were working on the engines again to see if they could get them more efficient. Too bad Tali wasn't here, Adams really missed her input.

"Okay this is what we know. A batarian ship, by the drive signature, made contact with the ship that attacked the Normandy. After making contact with the attacker, they went to a human colony and took a family that had two biotics in it. It seems that these two biotics were targeted. Now the attack ship had to have returned after the Normandy was destroyed for us to have picked up the new traces of their drive core. We know that we missed the batarians by only a few hours. What we don't know is if the batarians have discovered a new way to control biotics and that's why they wanted the two they took, or if it has something to do with our attacker. Okay thoughts?" Shepard asked.

"Seems a waste of time to take all the family members if they only wanted the biotics." Wrex said. "That's just a bad battle stratagy."

"I can't think of any reason the batarians would want twin biotics, Shepard." Kaidan said. "I have been trying to come up with something... It just doesn't make sense."

"And stopping at only one family, that doesn't sound like batarians either." Garrus continued "plus the complete lack of violence, that also doesn't ring true."

"Could the batarians have changed so much that they are kidnapping people non violently?" Liara said. "That would be completely out of character for them, I don't see them changing that much."

"But not all batarians are violent or slavers, that's a fallacy." Shepard said. "Could it be that we have some kind of business man instead? The thing that gets me is the complete lack of evidence. I can't even really say that the batarians did this for sure because all we have is pooled exhaust that matches batarian signature and a dead watch animal." Shepard said frustrated. "But my gut tells me if we can figure out what is special about twin biotics then we can figure out who the attackers are and maybe figure out what we need to do to beat them."

"Well one thing is twin biotics are rare." Kaidan said. "I mean human biotics are rare to begin with, with an only one in ten chance of developing biotics and surviving. Twin biotics that both survived, and developed strong biotics that would be rarer still. Liara and I were able to lift that generator easily, but we are very strong biotics. The twins being younger it's damn near certain they were strong for L3s. I would say that the odds were pretty high that they were possibly the only twin biotics in this area."

"Okay well than that being the case, why would batarians want them?" Garrus asked. "What use would they be to anyone really?"

"Well they would be a strong ally if they could be controlled, but a liability it that control wasn't complete." Wrex said.

"Well" Liara said "the thing that I think of as a scientist is study. If it is rare, and in this case we know it is, then scientists want to study it. Now batarians are not known for there scientific knowledge. I would hasten to guess that if this be the case, I mean if the twins were being studied, and they are human, that it would be a human scientist that would be interested in that study."

"Well there is one agency that comes to mind when talking about studying the effect of something on humans." Kaidan frowned. "Cerberus."

"But would Cerberus hire batarians to do the kidnapping, I don't think so." Shepard told him. "Cerberus is a pro human group. They would hire human mercs or more than likely use their own people. There is no way the ship that attacked the Normandy was a human vessel, the trail can't lie."

"Shepard, those people turned a whole colony into husks. They allowed rachni that were separated from their queen to infiltrate three stations and kill a lot of humans. I would say that their pro human outlook was based more on self preservation rather than species preservation." Kaidan said.

"Yes, you have a point, but we don't know anything about their objectives. Kidnapping, I wouldn't put that past them that is for sure, but to take the whole family in such a way, that had we not been there no one would have even suspected... well, what we suspect. That just seems a bit odd. Then again this is all heavy speculation because we just don't have enough information." Shepard let out a frustrated sigh.

"Okay well lets just not rule Cerberus out Shepard." Garrus said. "Kaidan is right, we did see them do some horrific things and they could very well be behind this kidnapping. Hell we don't even know if the twins or their family for that matter are still alive."

"Yeah, Yeah I know." Shepard said and she put her head down on her arms for a moment, then lifted it again." Liara, lets say they wanted to study these twins, what kind of things do you think they would want to investigate?"

"Well that is not my area of science, but I think they would first study their DNA makeup since they are identical..."

"Wait, did anyone say they were identical twins?" Shepard asked.

Liara looked confused "Twins are always identical, Shepard."

"Maybe asari, but not human. Human twins are identical if the egg splits evenly into two eggs that then develop side by side. They are not identical or fraternal we call it, if there are two eggs that are fertilized at the same time and then develop simultaneously but separate. If they were identical that means they could use one as a control subject and experiment on the other. If they were not identical that means they could study the differences and maybe figure out what made the whole." Shepard said. "Or something like that, don't you think."

"Well I don't see anything wrong with your hypothesis, although I am not sure what they would find out from only one set of twins." Liara advised her.

"Maybe they aren't after just one set" Kaidan offered "Maybe this is the only one we know about."

"So what you all are basically telling me is we need more data." Shepard said.

"Yes Shepard." Liara said.

"I think so." Garrus advised.

"Right Shepard," Wrex told her.

Kaidan hit her with "You've got it."

"Yeah and why does it feel like that's a bad thing?" She put her head back down on her arms again.

* * *

Kaidan woke in the middle of the night. Something had woken him up, he wasn't sure what it was. He got out of bed and looked in the top bunk and he knew what was wrong. Shepard wasn't there. She must have moved the bed enough to cause him to wake slowly. He went to go look for her, she hadn't been sleeping well and he was pretty sure he knew where she would be.

He walked into the cargo bay and there she was in the corner running on that damn treadmill. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but she was on it all the time. She was losing weight and sleep. He went over to her and said "Shepard..."

"Kaidan if you have come here to lecture me - I am going to take you out!" She said, but she didn't slow down.

"Okay, no lecture. So, what about sleep?"

"It's highly overrated" she told him.

"How about something to eat then."

"I have not lost that much weight!" she snapped at him.

"But you admit that you lost weight" he asked.

"A few pounds maybe, yeah." she admitted.

"Well, okay what do you think we should do about that." he asked her.

"I could get smaller armor, no one would know." she said.

"I would know, you muscle to fat ratio was always small to begin with. Could you just stop running for a bit and talk to me? Please." Kaidan asked her.

"I don't see what the big deal is, okay" she stopped running walked over to the table she has been using as a desk and plops down in the chair. "Happy now?"

"Not even close to happy right this second." Kaidan told her. "How much sleep have you had in the past few days."

"You said no lecture." She said.

"I am not lecturing I am asking you, how much sle-"

"Enough sleep, I've had enough sleep Kaidan." she tells him.

"Shepard, I know it's crowded, I know there is no privacy, I know we haven't found the ship that attacked the Normandy and I know that your frustrated about the Council not believing that the Reapers are a threat."

"And I miss Tali." She added.

"And you miss Tali" he added to make her happy he had been walking around the table and sat down next to her facing her, He took her hands in his. "Listen, no lecture okay but I am just going to make a small request."

"A small request" she eyed him suspiciously. "What kind of small request."

"I want you to eat all your meals with me, that's three meals a day, not just dinner and a snack before bed."

"But I always eat with you anyway." she told him.

"But you haven't been, not in the past two weeks actually. You have just been at dinner." Kaidan told her.

She looked away _two weeks!_ She looked back at him, _it couldn't be two weeks, Could it. "_Okay that seems resonable, what else."

"That's it. I just want you to eat with me. I want to make sure you're getting enough food and actually eating it." He told her.

"Okay, that seems very reasonable. What's the catch?" She looked at him sideways.

"No catch Shepard, just like I said, just want you to eat. Now can we go back to bed?"

Keeping his hands in hers she pulled herself to him and kissed him, getting up and working herself into his lap. He let go of her hands and pulled her to him while she put her arms around his back and ran her hands through his hair. She finally pulled away and said "there is one more thing that I am missing" as she watched him looking her body over.

"Yes, and I am missing that also."

"It doesn't seem to be bothering you as much."

"Oh it is, I have just been hiding it better than you." He pulled her in for a kiss again.

This time when the kiss was finished she stood up. "Okay lets go back to bed." She walked towards the hallway "oh and Kaidan."

"Yes Shepard?"

"When I figure out what your ulterior motives are, I will torture you for it, you do realize that, don't you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way" he said with a chuckle as he followed her to bed.

* * *

Sitting in the cockpit Shepard asked Garrus "Okay Garrus what kind of trail it this one, batarian again?"

"No, I think this one is vorcha."

"What the fuck is a 'vorcha'?" She asked.

"The are violent pests and savages with a very aggressive nature. Intelligence is not one of their strong points, they are primitive and short lived." Garrus explained

"Why haven't I heard about them before?" Shepard asked him.

"They usually confine themselves to the darker areas of space like in the Terminus system."

"Well what are they doing here?" Joker asked.

"Well meeting with a ship that has the same signature as the one we are looking for. It was really lucky we came upon that trail or we never would have known. It disappears again just further on, but we can follow the vorcha." Garrus said

"Yes, we had better do that." Shepard said, "call me when we get a location or something we can run with."

She left Garrus and Joker to their task and went to keep her lunch appointment with Kaidan, she still hadn't figured out what he was doing yet, but she would. It was only a matter of time, after all.


	5. Following The Trail

Bioware owns all! We are still trying to find out where we are going. Hope your enjoying the ride.

* * *

**Following The Trail**

God breakfast, yeah that's how she felt. Just wake up and you're forced to eat a meal. Well normal people could skip it, but she had given her word that she would join him and eat something every meal. Now it was starting to get on her nerves. Shepard felt antsy and she wanted to be up doing things, or even running, if she couldn't find something to do. Dr Chakwas, Garrus, and Joker were sitting there with her and Kaidan chatting away about something or other and she was paying them no mind. Kaidan had filled her bowl with some kind of breakfast protein glop and fruit paste. She had a cup of coffee which she had finished and a glass of juice which she was still working on. She hadn't finished eating and quite frankly she was trying to figure out a way to leave the table without finishing the meal and still keep her agreement. If she could figure out what he was up to she could get up and he wouldn't be able to say anything and she could then occupy her time figuring out ways to get even with him. She just couldn't fathom what he was doing.

Kaidan was talking to Dr. Chakwas now who was sitting on the other side of him. He was looking at the doctor so Shepard thought that he wouldn't see if she just got up and tossed her bowl in the cleaning chute and didn't finish it. She went to get up and felt his hand on her leg holding her in place. She scowled, he didn't even turn around to look at her. He gave her leg a warning squeeze. She sighed and started eating again. When she finished she took the bowl and shoved it under his nose.

"Happy now!" She cracked at him.

"Immensely" he told her with a smile on his face.

She put her lips next to his ear and hissed "you know it is only a matter of time, and I am planning many ways to get even with you for this." And she nipped his earlobe.

"Ouch, behave!" He told her.

"Never!" she snapped at him and stormed out of the mess.

He chuckled at her retreating back.

"What was that about?" Dr. Chakwas asked him.

"Oh she thinks I have ulterior motives for making her eat all her meals with me and actually eat her food." Kaidan told her. "She has threatened me with grievous harm when she finds out what my motives are" and he laughed.

"So what's so funny?" Joker asked "you know that she can really make your life hell if she wants."

"Right, but she would have to find out what those ulterior motives were." He said still chuckling.

"Well, what are they, tell us." Garrus said curious now.

"If you promise not to tell, I will share my secret with you" he told them and they all agreed.

"I have no ulterior motives, I just wanted her to eat all her meals." He said. "The only way I could get her to do it is if she thought I had something up my sleeve. You know she will only keep coming as long as she thinks I am hiding something from her, otherwise she would have stopped by now."

"Kaidan that was brilliant" Dr. Chakwas tells him. "She is looking better and she isn't losing anymore weight. My hat is off to you."

"You do realize when she finds out, your toast." Joker told him.

"Yeah, but hopefully by than we will be on the new ship and she will be in a much better frame of mind."

"Yeah, on the other hand, she will have more ways to embarrass you with more crew members around." Garrus said.

Kaidan stopped chuckling "Shit, I didn't think of that."

* * *

Garrus called Shepard up to the cockpit. "I found a planet where the vorcha landed but it looks like they took off again." He told her. "So we can follow them or we can go down to the planet and see what problems they have caused, if any."

"Let's do both" she told him. "Liara, Wrex and I will go down to the planet and see what we can find out. You and Kaidan will follow the trail and see what you can find out and then you can rendezvous back here and pick us up." She turned and went to find Kaidan to tell him what they were doing.

After listening to her plan Kaidan said "What happens if we find the ship?"

"Well if it's the attackers than FTL out really quick, if it's the vorcha vessel keep you distance but follow them and see if you can find anything out." Shepard told him.

"But Liara, Wrex and you will be stranded on Prenedee until we return."

"It's a colony world, I am sure they have other transports as well as the ability to call the Alliance if needed."

"Well, I don't like leaving you behind, but I wouldn't want to lose the trail because we delayed either." He ran his hand through is hair, it's a habit he had when he didn't like something she was doing.

They were standing next to the mako so she pushed him behind it so they had a modicum of privacy. She pushed him against the wall pressing and rubbing her body against his, kissing and nibbling his neck, until she caused him to groan. She whispered huskily in his ear, "I will be fine, you go and get me the information I need and then you just hurry your sexy little ass back here and pick me up." She kissed him hard and then turned and left him there to collect himself.

* * *

The planet Prenadee was another one of those planets that was perfect for an agriculture community. The settlement of Fullers Run was full of prefab residences and little else. Going down the ramp from the Salice Shepard, followed by Wrex and Liara, took a good look around. When she faced forward she came to a stop. Coming out of a building just ahead was a group of four men armed and pointing their weapons at her and her squad members. She placed her hands out in front of her as a show of surrender but close enough to her pistol to grab it if she needed it. Her shields were at full strength so she should be able to get hit with a shot or two with no problem. Kaidan in the Salice just out of sight and Liara and Wrex on the ramp were all ready to each take out a subject having signaled to each other to indicate the one they were taking. Shepard would have the lead subject in her sights if she pulled her gun.

"Gentleman, I am Commander Shepard, I am a Council Spectre, we mean you no harm, but I am not without defenses and I will use them if you force me to." Shepard said.

"The Commander Shepard, Savior of the Citadel?" One of the older males in the back asked lowering his weapon.

She guessed sometimes these stupid titles were helpful "that would be me." She told him.

He turned to the men next to him and started to push the weapons down. "Put your guns down you fools this is the woman that got a seat on the Council for humans, show some respect!" The male in the front held his weapon on Shepard a moment longer and then lowered it. Only Kaidan didn't relax his vigil on the men.

The older male pushed past the younger male in front. "We're sorry Commander, we didn't know that it was you and after what happen… well we were just being cautious. We just sent word a little while ago and we didn't expect you so soon."

Shepard turned around and looked back at Kaidan in the Salice, he nodded at her and turned around and walked back into the ship.

"Well gentleman, we happened to be in the area…" She let her voice trail off so he would provide more information.

"Well, Ma'am that is fortuitous. I am Jacob Smith, this is my son Justin, and these men are Caleb Jackson and Brent Mullman." He pointed out the young man from the front and then his other two companions. "When we found the bodies Ma'am we didn't know what else to do. That's why we called the Alliance."

"Yes that was quite smart of you Mr. Smith." She told him. Kaidan's voice came over the comm. "Hackett says they just received word of an attack on this world by alien raiders. There are six dead bodies and there is possibly four people missing. He was calling us as I got into the cockpit."

"Got it" she said in a low voice into her comm to Smith she said "You should take me to the scene, you didn't move anything did you?"

"Well Ma'am we know you're not supposed to, but we couldn't leave the people out like that. It wasn't right. We did leave the alien where he fell though." Smith told her.

"Lead on Mr. Smith." She told him. She turned to Wrex and Liara and said softly "would either of you know a vorcha if you saw one?"

"I would" Wrex told her.

"Good" then into her comm. "Kaidan, you go and find the vorcha ship, use caution and don't board unless necessary, don't put yourself in any unnecessary danger."

"Aye, aye Commander." She heard him answer in her ear and then she followed Mr. Smith.

* * *

Smith brought them to a large warehouse with two smaller rooms one at the southwest corner and one at the northwest corner of the warehouse. It was over a hill and obstucted from the view of the rest of the colony. The dead humans might have been moved but the blood on the scene left nothing to the imagination. The attack had been brutal. Smith led Shepard to the dead alien. It was an ugly creature that resembled a scary clown with very sharp teeth. Shepard looked at Wrex, he nodded at her. Well she had her evidence that the vorcha were here but she doubted the council would take her word that they were involved with the attackers, energy trails not withstanding. This attack lacked the precision and cleanliness of the last attack.

"Mr. Smith we were advised that people might be missing." Shepard said.

"Might be, well there isn't any might be. They are missing alright, the only question I have is, are they still alive?" He told her. "All four of them are gone."

Trying to think of a way to get the information without leading Smith down the path she wanted him to go she asked. "Were the missing people in the same family?"

"No Ma'am." He used his fingers to tick off the people to her. "Jade Sanchez is a young pretty thing about twenty years old with a sweet disposition. Aaron Chisson is about thirty and just your average guy. The same with Rob Charles, he is just a normal Joe at age fourty six. The last is Aster Mace age fifty four, she is just as mean as they come, she would shoot you as well as your dog."

Shepard took the last part to be a local idiom, she just accepted that Aster Mace must be a bitch. Okay no relations, that leaves out twins, but maybe biotics come into play.

"Was there anything different about the four that were missing from the dead colonists?" Shepard asked trying not to lead him on, but having trouble thinking of any other way to ask without giving him the information she wanted him to volunteer.

"No they were colonists too" Shepard was disappointed with that answer. "Yeah they will be missed too because they were all biotics. We didn't like them much at first, but they grow on you when they have skills and they can help with the farm equipment, you know, because it's heavy." And there it was the connection she was looking for.

"Mr. Smith if you don't mind we would like to look around here and see what evidence we can find."

"Certainly Commander, I understand. If you need me I will be in the square by the spaceport." He told her.

"Thank you Mr. Smith." She shook his hand and he left.

When he was out of earshot she turned around to Wrex and Liara. "Okay here is what I want to look for, anything out of the ordinary. Anything that doesn't look like it would be of vorcha manufacture, Garrus says they are not very tech savvy."

"They may not be tech savvy Shepard but they do a lot of trade and theft too." Wrex pointed out.

"Yes and that is what I am looking for, something that they had to get from another race that might lead us back to the attackers." Shepard told him. "Wrex you search on the west side of the warehouse and Liara you search on the east. I will take the inside. When you finish Liara you take the front and Wrex you take the rear." They both acknowledged and set off.

Shepard went over to the dead vorcha and searched him. She didn't find anything unusual there. She searched around him using his body as a base and made a widening circle around him until she reached the wall, picking a location were it looked like a human body had fallen she started again. She repeated this procedure until she had covered the whole room overlapping what she felt were the important areas. She found nothing unusual in the warehouse proper. So Shepard walked over to the northwest room. When she opened the room she noticed it's order was a stark contrast to the mess in the warehouse proper. There was nothing out-of-place, it's doubtful that anyone even entered this room or bothered to check it. She did a cursory walk around but she knew it was a waste of time.

She walked to the Southwest room. Now this room was full of blood and it was obviously that it had been part of the firefight. The room was a mess with blood and papers and damaged equipment all around. She methodically searched the room starting at one end of the room and ended at the other. There were some things that she couldn't identify, but they didn't look like they were strange technology. She got an empty box to put them in it anyway.

Liara called her on her comm. "Shepard, I think I found something."

"Where are you?" Shepard asked her going towards the front door with her box of unknown items.

"I am two thirds of a click from the front door of the warehouse but on the west side." Liara answered her.

"Okay I am coming" Shepard said, she looked off in the distance and saw Liara's red armor. "I see you now" she told her.

Walking slowly up to Liara so as not to destroy any other evidence that might be around, she looked at her. Liara pointed down and Shepard looked down where she indicated. There was a piece of something; it looked like it might be organic with tech running through it. Whatever it had been, there was only half of it left, other half of it having been melted away.

"Your right Liara I think you did find something" Shepard picked it up in her gloved hand and put it in the box. "Are you finished searching?"

"I only have a little more to go." Liara said as she pointed to the direction she was going in.

"Okay I will meet you back at the warehouse." Shepard told her.

Shepard walked back to the warehouse and then went to the rear to find Wrex. She could see him in the back on the east side walking slowly and looking around still heading east. She went out to talk to him.

"Did you find anything Wrex?"

"Just a jammed pistol that looks like it belonged to one of the colonists. It's never been cleaned I suspect." he showed her the pistol.

"Yeah you're probably right" Shepard told him after a cursory examination of the jammed pistol.

"Have you ever seen something like this Wrex?" She pointed to the item that Liara had found.

He looked it over "no I have never seen that before, what does it do?"

"I think that is one of the things that we need to find out."

"With it broken like that I don't know how far we are going to get."

"Yes, I know."

Liara came back to join them. "I didn't find anything else Shepard" she told her.

"Are you finished Wrex?"

"Yes I was just going over the corners again to make sure I didn't miss anything."

"Alright then, let's head back to the space port."

* * *

The Salice was now a day away from Prenedee following the trail. They couldn't use FTL because they might lose the trail. Garrus was sitting next to Joker monitoring the trail and correcting the heading when needed. Kaidan came into the cockpit again for the sixth time in the last hour.

"Did you find anything yet Garrus." he asked.

"Kaidan, you know that you and Shepard are just perfect for each other."

"What, why do you say that?"

"Because, both you and she know that I would let you know, right away, the minute I found something and here you keep coming into the cockpit to question me every ten minutes, just like she would."

"I'm sorry Garrus, I just don't like leaving them behind on that planet."

"Leaving her you mean." Joker said.

"Yeah, okay leaving her on the planet alone."

"You mean without you, since she is not alone. You know she is more than capable of taking care of herself." Garrus told him.

"Alright! God you guys are the worst friends a guy can have. Instead of supporting me you torment me."

"Yeah, it's so much more fun that way." Joker told him. "Now leave us alone, go bug doc or Adams."

"Okay, I will leave you alone. Just let me know the minute you find something." Kaidan said.

"Don't worry," Joker said, "you won't be the last to know." Kaidan was halfway down the corridor before he realized what Joker had said and laughed.

* * *

Dr. Chakwas looked up as Kaidan entered the make shift med bay. "Do you feel a migraine coming on?"

"No Doc I am just trying to keep myself busy while I wait for us to find something, I just came to talk. If you're not busy that is."

"No, not busy, we have been lucky so far on this trip."

"Yes, that we have, let us hope that doesn't change."

"So what is bothering you?" she asked.

"What, oh nothing really, I just keep going up to check on Joker and Garrus and they say I am driving them crazy."

She laughed "I think you're taking 'doing the Commanders job' a little too seriously."

"Yeah, that is what Garrus implied. No wonder she gets so frustrated when she is waiting for something to happen."

"Yes, well where most of us have other duties, we are her other duties. On the Normandy she had many others she could check on and things she could work on like keeping the personnel files updated and such, here we have only a handful of us so she doesn't have so much make work to do."

"Yeah I am beginning to see what the problem is."

"But Kaidan you have other duties to perform, why aren't you just working on them."

He looked embarrassed "I have nothing that is imperative and I just can't concentrate on the little I haven't finished." He admitted to her.

"Are you worried about the Commander?"

"Yeah, I think that is the problem. If we were busy I wouldn't have noticed, but this waiting just brings it out. I am usually with her so I don't usually worry like this, and it's the not knowing that is driving me up a wall."

"Kaidan, you left her on a colony world and you are following the bad guys. Even if they were to return to the planet, Shepard, Wrex and Liara are certainly more than a match for them."

"I know it makes no sense right?"

"On the contrary, it makes perfect sense. Your head is telling you that she is okay and safe, and your heart is telling you that you don't know if she is safe, because she is not with you. You are almost always together, or at least on the same ship. This is the first time you have actually be separated since, well since you and her became… well you know."

"Together, you can say it Doc, it's not like we don't look on you as part of the family. But what you say makes sense, and you're right, we haven't be separated like this. I mean she has gone on missions without me, when I have had a migraine or been injured, but we are right above the planet she is on. I feel like I have abandoned her. I haven't felt like that since… well since…"

"Since she made you leave her to secure the safety of the crew on the Normandy." The doctor finished for him.

"Yes, that is exactly it. She had to order me to leave her, did you know that?" the doctor shook her head at him. "Yeah I didn't want to go, and she ordered me to, then she went to get Joker. I felt so helpless when we were on the ground waiting for the pods to all land. I don't know what I would have done had I opened the pod and she wasn't in there."

"But she was, and you know she is safe. This situation is just bringing up those feelings again. Kaidan there is nothing wrong with you, okay it's just normal worry. You'll be fine."

"Thanks doc, I needed someone to tell me that."

"Hey, I live to serve."

"Don't we all." He said.

* * *

It was three more hours before they finally found something. Garrus called Kaidan to the bridge since true to his word he hadn't returned to bother them.

"What do you have Garrus." Kaidan asked coming into the cockpit.

"I think we have found the vorcha ship, it's just out there dead in space. I trace a strong trail that matches the trail of the attackers with an entry and exit, but it is so strong I can't even give you a directional. We must have just missed it."

"Yeah, well that may be a good thing. What can you tell about the ship, any life signs?"

"No, none detected anyway, although they may have a blocker up." Garrus advised.

"Well I think we are going to have to go over there and check it out. Let's suit up."

"I'm right behind you, Kaidan." Garrus said.

* * *

There was an eerie silence in the ship, the drives were offline. Kaidan and Garrus went methodically from area to area, room to room. There were a lot of dead bodies, all vorcha according to Garrus. There was no signs of any humans on board, or any evidence that there ever had been any humans on board, at least none that they could find with the equipment they had available.

"This is strange, why would they kill all of the vorcha?" Garrus asked. "They didn't kill that batarians."

"Maybe they did, we just haven't found them yet."

"Anything is possible."

"Well let's head back and pick up the Commander. Maybe she had better luck then we did." Kaidan told him.

"I hope so, if she didn't she is going to be pissed because we haven't found her anything."

"Well we might have found something, but we just don't know what it is yet ." Kaidan told him heading back to the ship with Garrus following him.


	6. Lingering

Bioware owns all! Thanks go out to Star582 (my idea she co wrote it) for there help with the shower scene… yeah we are obsessed and there are no towels here! Well, at least until later. Remember rated M

* * *

**Lingering**

Shepard was waiting for the Salice to return. They were sitting on this planet now for over a day. She was tired, she was cranky and she had slept in her armor. Jacob Smith had put them in a small storage room at the spaceport, gave them some blankets and a warm meal, which thankfully she didn't have to finish (no Kaidan). Wrex thought the blankets were a waste and he slept outside in a field.

Shepard went to sleep with Liara on the other side of the room, she woke up with Liara's arms around her, and at first she thought they were Kaidan's arms (same armor). She was really going to have to find him a different stronger set of armor (that ass needed to be protected). She got up, extricating herself from Liara's arms. He would have had a fit if he was here, but then if he were here, Liara wouldn't have worked herself over to Shepard. She probably had done it in her sleep anyway. Ever since the beacon she was drawn to Shepard, okay the fact Liara has a crush on her might add to the problem. Shepard wasn't interested, but she couldn't change the way Liara felt. Shepard understood; at times like this she just resigned herself to it.

Shepard left the storage room and went in search of something to drink, preferably with caffeine in it. She came upon Jacob's son sitting in the square by the spaceport.

"Excuse me Mr. Smith, but do you know where I could get a morning beverage, something with a pick-me-up quality would be preferred." She asked him.

"Justin, Mr. Smith is my father." He advised her.

"Okay, Justin do you know where—"

He cut her off "what do you think they did with the people they took?"

"Well, I need to find out why they were taken and where before I can find out about what happen to them." Shepard told him.

"Yeah, but those things killed everyone else. If they had wanted Jade and the others to die, wouldn't they have killed them too? "

"Look, I don't know why they took them or why the others were killed. I am trying to find out. I can promise you that I will not stop looking until I know what is going on, okay."

"Yeah, it's just that Jade, she is my friend." Justin said.

"I'm sorry, if I can find her and bring her home I will."

"You're not going to be able to find her though, are you?"

"I honestly don't know, Justin, but I do know that I can try." Shepard told him.

"Come with me, I'll get you a drink, it's not coffee, more like a tea, made from a local bark that has qualities similar to tea leaves." Justin said, leading her to one of the prefab residences.

Shepard followed the young man inside and saw a woman look up as they entered, she had Justin's eyes.

"Commander Shepard, this is my mother Jeannette Smith. Mom, this is Commander Shepard." He introduced her.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Smith." Shepard said.

"Why Commander, I am glad that you came by. I was afraid you would leave before I had a chance to make your acquaintance. My husband speaks very highly of you. Can I offer you breakfast?"

"Really I would like something to drink, your son suggested a local bark beverage you have."

"Oh yes, it doesn't have a name, we refer to it as the soak, because that is how you make it. It has a pleasant enough taste with some sweetening in it." She presented the Commander with a cup of warm liquid.

Shepard cautiously took a sip of the liquid and was pleasantly surprised. "This is good, thank you this is just what I needed."

"Your quite welcome Commander, now if you'll excuse us, we have chores to do. You can just leave the cup down at the office by the spaceport."

"Okay, thanks again." Shepard left walking back towards the spaceport cup in hand.

As she approached the spaceport, in the distance she saw Liara's red armor and could tell she was looking for her.

Shepard waved to get her attention, and saw Liara wave back. She could see Liara relax; she hadn't told anyone where she had gone so it was no surprise they were looking for her. As she approached Liara came towards her, she saw Wrex over talking to some of the men from the colony.

"Shepard, the Salice called and left word with Mr. Smith that they are having engine trouble. They are twenty-two hours away, but on their way back."

"Did they find the ship?"

"They didn't talk to me they talked to Mr. Smith, I don't think they told him anything."

"Yeah, I know, stupid question." Shepard let out her breath frustrated.

"Shepard," Liara started looking embarrassed "I just wanted to tell you that I…"

Shepard interrupted her knowing exactly where this was going. "Liara, it's over, just forget about it, okay."

"Are you sure Shepard?"

"Yes I am very sure, it's done."

Liara was relieved "thank you."

"Yeah, don't mention it, and I mean don't mention it… okay." Shepard asked her.

"Oh, yes, I understand."

They walked towards Wrex who seemed to have captured the interest of some of the local children now.

"Did you tell Wrex about the delay?" Shepard asked.

"He was with me when Mr. Smith advised us." Liara said.

They approached Wrex and the young boys were showing him a weapon they had made using some elastic tubing and a thick branch that forked out into two branches. The tubing was tied, each end to one of the two branches. They had set up a row of small empty containers the size of cups along the top of some shipping crates and were taking turns showing Wrex how well they could shoot their home made weapon.

"Hey Wrex, what's going on here?" Shepard asked.

"I was just giving the young-lings some pointers." Wrex told her.

"Hey can I try that?" Shepard asked the boy with the weapon.

"Girls can't shoot." One of the boys said.

"Well I don't know about girls, but I can shoot." Shepard told him.

"Well, girls can't aim." Another boy said.

"My aim is pretty good, too." Shepard told them.

"Let her try Matt." One of the boys said, and the others agreed with him.

The boy named Matt handed Shepard the weapon. She bent down to the pile of rocks and debris that the boys had stockpiled for ammunition and took a hand full. She pushed a rock behind the tubing and then pulled it back, readying the next rock in her hand. She shot the first container and quickly reloaded and shot the second one. She continued this practice until all the containers were down. She handed the weapon back to Matt who had a look of complete shock on his face.

"So I guess some girls can aim." The Commander said to him, as she tussled his hair.

"Wow, your really good. How did you learn to do that." He asked.

"My dad taught me when I was a kid." She told him.

"But how did you get so good?" Matt asked her and the other boys murmured there agreement to the question.

"Practice of course." And with that the boys were all vying for the chance to practice with the weapon.

Shepard left the boys with Wrex urging them on.

* * *

"Kaidan, you're hovering." Adams snapped at him.

"I'm an engineer I can help." He answered.

"We both can't fit in this conduit and you know it. I am fixing it as fast as I can. I know you think I am oblivious, but I am not. We will get back for her as fast as we can, but the more you bother me the longer it is going to take."

"Then let me get in there." Kaidan said.

"Kaidan, you need to go relax, the FTL drive will be fixed, when it is fixed. Now GO AWAY!" his voice got louder with every word.

Adams never yelled or raised his voice, he was always so calm. Kaidan realized he must really be annoying him. He left Adams to do his work.

Kaidan went into the cargo bay and pulled all the weapons out of the locker and started cleaning them. Once he disassembled and reassembled four pistols he felt better and more relaxed. Three hours later, when Garrus came looking for him, he had cleaned half of the ships compliment of weapons and was starting on the other half.

"You need help?" Garrus asked.

"Nope, I got it." Kaidan told him.

"Doc says you need to come and eat." Garrus said.

"I'll eat at dinner time." He said.

"Kaidan?"

"Yeah."

"It's dinner time."

Kaidan looked up at him "oh, I'll be right there."

"Okay." Garrus turned and left. Kaidan finished the reassembling the assault rifle he was cleaning and put it away then went to join the others for dinner.

* * *

Jeannette Smith found Commander Shepard sitting on a packing crate by the space dock watching the men work, Liara sitting beside her. Wrex was helping the men clear crates from the middle of the dock.

"Commander Shepard?"

"Yes, Mrs. Smith, what can I do for you?"

"Well, we thought you might join us for a party tonight, that's why the men are clearing the square and spaceport area. We are going to have a celebration of the lives that were lost and we would like you and your friends to join us. You can get cleaned up at my house and we can go from there."

"Well I wouldn't mind getting cleaned up, we've been in our armor for over a day. I don't know if it would be appropriate for me to attend a party for the dead."

"It's our way; we celebrate the happy times and send them on their way to a better place. We really would like you to join us. There will be eating, drinking and music. Please come, everyone will be there. You have to wait for your ship to return anyway."

"I guess that would be alright, lead on Mrs. Smith."

"Commander, please, call me Nettie, everyone does."

* * *

"You want me to wear that?" Shepard asked standing in a towel, looking at the white, black and blue fabric laying on the bed with under garments next to them.

"Commander I washed your clothing, they won't be dry for a few hours, we are all wearing these party clothes, they are all the same pattern just different colors. The dresses are all white with black swirls and then they have a splashes of color to show life. Yours is blue and Liara's is red.

"I can't wear a dress." Shepard was adamant.

"Commander I assure you that you can. I have slippers in your size and the undergarments are the same size as yours are."

"Where is my armor?"

"It is being aired out, besides you can't wear the armor to the Celebration. Commander Shepard, wearing the dress will not kill you, and everyone will be wearing the same thing. It will be fine." Nettie turned and left her alone to get dressed.

Shepard put on the dress, it wasn't really bad at all, sleeveless form fitting on top, loose skirt on the bottom, ankle length, well, she thought she could run in it and not trip, that was a good thing. The slippers were soft and comfortable. She looked in a mirror they had behind the door. She looked normal, for a girl anyway. Well, it seemed right to follow their customs, but as soon as she could put on her own clothing, she would.

She left the room and walked down the hall and sure enough there was Nettie with the same dress white with black swirls and burst of color here and there, hers were green. Standing next to her was Liara and she looked very nice in her dress with the red color intertwined.

"Shepard, you look beautiful." Liara told her.

She rolled her eyes, "thank you Liara, you look very nice yourself"

"Thank you Shepard."

"Well, if you two girls are ready, we can get going, the square is going to be filling up and dinner taste better when its fresh." Nettie said and lead them out to the square.

True to what Nettie had said there was food, drink and music. The celebration started with people getting up and talking about one of the dead people and telling about their lives, goals, accomplishments and then everyone toasted that person. This went on for each of the six dead colonists. Then they made a toast for the missing to return to them. When they finished the music started. There was some singing, songs pertaining to celebration of life and helping the dead move on. Then the mood started to lighten and that's when the dancing started. Every time someone would ask Shepard to dance she would offer Liara in her stead. Finally it got to be too much, it was getting late and the Salice wasn't going to be there for a while still. She was getting tired of trying to dodge the dancing issue so she went to Wrex and told him she would be over to the west beyond the square. She told him she just wanted the air and not to let Liara follow her.

Walking to the west of the buildings she had noticed a clearing with open space for quite a distance. She stood there and watched the stars. It was a warm clear night and she did enjoy the warm breeze on her face. She closed her eyes and felt the wind blowing though her hair. It brought a smile to her face. The party still was going on and it was really noisy. She thought of Ashley and how it would have been nice to send her off with a party like this. She heard a noise and looked around and saw some couples going different ways. Well life does go on. Seeing the couples made her think of Kaidan, his beautiful brown eyes, shy smile and strong arms. She thought of the feel of his muscles and the sound of his voice, now that was home. Boy did she miss him.

The music died down for a moment and then started up again anew, a faster dance tune it seemed and the shouts told it was a popular one. The party got louder if that was possible, she was glad she had removed herself from the festivities. She just stood there and enjoyed the view of the stars.

* * *

Adams had been able to get the FTL drive fixed and the Salice was back on Prenadee now and ready to pick up Shepard, Wrex and Liara. Kaidan got out of the Ship and saw the party. _Its strange to be having a party when they had just had people die here _he thought.

The older gentleman who had recognized Shepard the day they first landed came over to Kaidan. He introduced himself as Jacob Smith and asked Kaidan and the crew to join them in the celebration, after explaining what it was for. Kaidan advised Joker to tell the crew that they were welcome to attend the party. Then he went in search of Shepard. He found Liara, wearing a dress no less, dancing with a colonist. She told him that Wrex knew where Shepard was, so he went to find Wrex. It wasn't too hard considering he was taller then any of the colonists. Kaidan asked where she was and Wrex told him where Shepard had advised she would be. He headed off in that direction.

When he got to the clearing he looked around, but he didn't see Shepard. There was one of the colonists there dressed the same as all the other females, but no Shepard. Then he took a closer look at the female and the way she was standing. It was too dark to tell what color the hair was, but it was short like Shepard's. He walked slowly closer to the female, not wanting to scare her if she was a local. Then She pulled her arms behind her and stretched them, first one, then the other and he knew it was her. He slowly walked up behind her and just before he put his arms around her he said "it's me." so she wouldn't be surprised and attack him. He enclosed her from behind pulling her tightly against him, she put her arms around his hugging them to her. He stuck his face in her hair and inhaled her scent. She turned in his arms and put her arms around his neck.

"Well you took your sweet time." she said to him with a smile on her face.

"Well you know I had all these women to visit on my way back here." He said just so he could watch the quick flash of anger she couldn't stop from coming to her face whenever she got jealous. He laughed at her. "No other woman but you Shepard, none come close."

"You better remember that, your ass belongs to me" and Shepard put both hands on his butt and pulled him closer to her.

"And yours belongs to me" he said as he gently lifted her chin and kissed her. He then proceeded to follow the line of her jaw with his lips and had just gotten to the tender spot under her ear when she yawned.

He pulled back from her but kept her in his arms. "Here I am smothering you with passionate kisses and you yawn?" He asked unable to keep the smile from his lips.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kaidan I am, I really missed you, but I didn't sleep well and I was up just after dawn. That was over twenty hours ago. I was running on adrenaline before you got here, because I was worried you hadn't arrived. Now that your in my arms, I can relax, and I'm afraid I am exhausted." she put her head on his shoulder.

"Okay, lets get you back to the then and put you to bed. Did you eat already?" He asked as he steered her back towards the ship, keeping his arms around her.

"There was a lot of food, there still is in fact, so yes I ate. I will be honest and tell you that I probably have not eaten as much as you would have liked in the last two days. I am too tired to eat right now anyway." Shepard told him.

"That's okay, I'll give you a vitamin shot when we get onto the ship." Shepard made a face at him, that he ignored. "That's a very nice dress you're wearing, I have never seen you in a dress. I like it."

"Oh I have to get my armor and clothes from the Smith residence." she told him.

"Don't worry, I will get it for you after I get you to bed." they were approaching the party so they separated, so as not to draw the attention of the crew. "So do we get to keep the dress?"

She yawned again. "I suppose we could offer to buy it, why?"

"Well I would like to see you in it again, like I said; I like it." Kaidan told her.

"Okay, I didn't think I would like it but it is actually quite comfortable, so if they let you buy it from them then go ahead." She yawed again, "and don't forget to pay for the slippers too."

"Yes Ma'am." he said as they walked up the ramp to the ship.

"Where is everyone?" Shepard asked.

"Jacob smith invited everyone to the party, I thought it would be okay with you so I let them go."

"Hey, you were in charge, it was your call. If they fuck anything up, it's your mess to clean up." she told him and stopped and yawned again.

Kaidan picked her up in his arms and walked her into the bedroom. There was no one in the room he took her over to their bunk and sat her on his bed. He removed her slippers and put them in her locker taking her sweats and tee shirt out. He stood her up and removed the dress over her head being sure to keep it neat. He shoved the tee shirt over her head while she unhooked her bra and took it off by taking one strap off her arm through the tee shirt sleeve and then pulling it out through the other. He had seen her do it before, but it always made him smile when she did it. He grabbed it from her hand and tossed it in the locker. Then he bent down with her sweat pants in his hand and tried to get them on her legs. He had to prod her several times to get her to lift each foot. She put her hand on his back for support. When he finally got them on her, she was just about asleep on her feet. He lifted her into her bunk and pulled a blanket over her.

He went to med bay but the doctor wasn't around, he filled a hypo with a vitamin mixture knowing she probably had eaten less than she told him she had. He went back into the bedroom and gave her the shot, she didn't even move and her even breathing told him she was fully asleep. He left to go and collect the armor and clothes from the Smith residence.

* * *

Kaidan opened his eyes and realized it was too soon for him to be awake. Something had awakened him however and at this point he was pretty sure he knew what it was. He resignedly got up and checked the top bunk; sure enough, Shepard was gone again. He grabbed his omni tool off the bed post by habit, checking the time as he shoved it on his arm. She had had maybe six and a half hours sleep.

Looking around the room he saw that everyone was sound asleep. _Well, why wouldn't they be? Most of them only strayed in an hour or two ago._ He headed towards the cargo bay expecting to find her there, but when he got into the room she wasn't on the treadmill where he had thought she would be. He checked the mess; she wasn't there. He went up to the cockpit and found Joker snoring away, but no Shepard. He went back to the bedroom but she wasn't there and everyone was still sleeping.

This ship was small and they had little privacy. There were only so many places she could be. He checked the cargo doors but they were shut tight and the ramp from the hatch was retracted into the ship so he knew she hadn't gone out onto the planet. Finally, he went down to the bathroom at the back of the ship. The door was locked, but he could hear the shower running, and he knew he had found her. He was glad he had brought his omni tool with him as he switched it on to hack the simple lock in less than a minute and quickly slip inside the bathroom.

He walked around to the shower stall and there she was. Shepard's eyes were shut and her mouth partway open while her hands were busy with a task that had nothing to do with bathing. As Kaidan watched, his clothes began feeling all too tight and he started pulling them off, all the while trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to interrupt her concentration.

Once free of the constraints posed by his clothes, he stepped into the shower stall and pulled her towards him. He crushed his mouth to hers, gratified by the shocked little noise she made before surrendering to his kiss. A wave of pleasure and surprise swept over him as he realized how much he had missed touching her like this. He took his time, enjoying the feel of her skin, the scent of her hair and the taste of her mouth.

She began squirming frantically against him and he knew he had interrupted her at a critical moment. He felt himself responding to her writhing body and lifted her into place against him. She clutched at him for support and he drew her close, his mouth and tongue exploring her neck and throat before moving upwards again to join with hers. She wrapped her legs around him, her muscles quivering with pleasure as both their mouths and fingers began moving in time with the rhythm of their bodies. She went over the edge almost immediately and he followed her shortly thereafter, crying out her name as his pleasure peaked.

When their heartbeats returned to a normal speed, Kaidan moved under the shower activating the spray. He placed Shepard down on her feet and she turned to pick up the soap running it under the water before proceeded to lather him up. He stood watching her movements, now and then stopping her for a kiss. He loved the feel of her soapy hands running over his body. When he was all soaped up she pushed him back under the stream of water to wet his hair. Then she took a bit of shampoo and reached up to soap his hair.

Kaidan grabbed the soap and began running his soapy hands over her body just as she had done to him. He looked into her eyes, drinking in the blueness as she faced him with her hands in his hair working the shampoo into it. When she had finished with his hair he turned her around so he could soap her back slowly working his way down to her toes and making sure he got soap everywhere. He then grabbed the shampoo so he could do her hair. As he worked, she rubbed her slippery soapy hands over his helping him get her hair clean. He intertwined his fingers in hers and pulled them both under the shower activating the spray. They each made sure the soap was gone from the other's body stealing kisses here and there. The water splashed on them, creating a trail of soapy suds that slid down their bodies and into the drain below. Using their hands ...and occasionally their lips, they helped the water do its work until the soap was completely gone.

Shepard stepped out of the shower. Handing Kaidan a towel she proceeded to dry herself off and watched as he did the same. As she put on her undergarments he came up behind her giving her one more hug before reaching past her to grab his sleepwear.

Once both were fully dressed they were ready to face the day. As they went for the door Kaidan stole one more kiss. She realized she hadn't said anything to him since he had surprised her (and what a nice surprise it was). As their kiss ended, she looked into his eyes and said "Good morning." And it was.

* * *

Kaidan went back to the bedroom to change from his sleepwear to his clothing. He then met Shepard in the mess. No one else was up so their morning rendezvous had gone unnoticed, which was good because he had really needed it. He saw she had only taken a cup of coffee and was sitting looking at a data pad, leaving him to get her something to eat. When he had their breakfast prepared he sat down next to her, setting her food in front of her. She of course made a face, but surprisingly didn't say anything and started to eat the food. Small victory for him, maybe.

"So what did you find for me?" Shepard asked him.

"Well we found the vorcha ship with a lot of dead vorcha on it. No humans alive or dead." He said.

"Did you find anything suspicious?" she asked, "like technology suspicious?"

"No, nothing like that at all." Kaidan told her.

"Well I grabbed anything I didn't recognize but I am sure you will be able to identify most of the things I found except- CRAP" and she was up and running from the room before Kaidan could blink.

He followed behind her "what's wrong"

"We have to go back, the evidence is in the room I slept in" heading towards the cockpit.

"Shepard, we are still planet side."

"Really?"

"Yeah after the party no one was in any condition to leave, least of all Joker." Kaidan said.

"Great" she turned around and headed for the airlock and he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Breakfast first." He told her pulling her back to the mess.

"But I have to show you...?" He put his finger to her lips and she stopped.

"Breakfast first, you haven't eaten hardly anything in two days. What you found will wait another twenty minutes while you finish your meal." He told her.

"I told you I ate." She complained.

"Yeah, you lied, I talked that lady, Nettie, she told me that she couldn't get you to eat hardly anything. Shepard, I don't understand why all of a sudden you don't want to eat anything." He led her back to the chair and she sat down.

"It doesn't taste good, nothing taste good." She told him.

"It's the same food we have all the time. It's the same food we had on the Normandy." Kaidan said.

"Well I am telling you it doesn't taste the same, it smells vile too."

"What about the food on the planet, how did it taste."

"I didn't like it either." Shepard said

"Okay well just eat this right now and I will figure out something." He watched as she ate her food and he noticed that she did grimace ever so slightly every time she took a bite. _It really doesn't taste right to her_ he thought. He was going to have to discuss this with Dr. Chakwas.

* * *

When they finished breakfast Shepard led him out to the storage room she had slept in. She went over to the box and opened the lid and pushed it towards him. Kaidan looked inside and recognized most of the equipment in there. He stuck his hand in to move the items around and saw something he couldn't place. He pulled out the half burned piece of technology and examined it.

"Yeah, this is something new. I have never seen anything like this before." He said.

"That's what Liara thought, she found it. What do you think it does." Shepard asked.

"I don't know. But I guess we are just going to have to figure it out."


	7. Checkups

Bioware owns all! For those of you waiting for Walls it is coming, just that this was yelling louder...

* * *

**Checkups**

~Later the same day~

"She says her food tastes bad and I have watched her eat it, she definitely reacts like the food is bad." Kaidan explained while sitting in med bay.

"Well there are several things that can cause that. Some we can rule out because more people would have had reactions, like chemical poisoning and several different snake bites. These can be ruled out, the former because we would have more people reacting to it and the later because I doubt there are any snakes on the Salice. That leaves the most likely suspect an allergen." Dr. Chakwas told him.

"Well this all started after we got on the ship. She was bored and driving everyone crazy. I noticed then she wasn't finishing her meals. It actually may have started earlier then that, but I didn't notice it. It got worse after she got the treadmill, she would maybe take a bite or two then push it aside."

"Well it could be airborne but the scrubbers should have taken care of most of the allergens. If it is airborne, it would have to be something that she is very close to. It just seems highly unlikely that there would be anything like that on the ship. The decontamination procedures are very thorough..." She walked over to her terminal and activated it. After a few moments of studying it she said "Well, she is going to need a check up," Kaidan groaned "yeah, I realize that's not going to go over too well. It also could be a mold spore, so you're going to have to check her clothing, bedding and her armor."

"We don't have the equipment for a micro test, we need an incubator." he told her.

"Yes, do swabs tests and we can put them into a crate and put the box by the FTL drive, it's really warm there, warm enough to get results anyway. It wouldn't be good for documentation protocol but I am just trying to get the molds to grow to test them, so that should give me enough to work with."

"That's going to take some time. She isn't eating now. She is giving me more and more trouble every day." Kaidan said.

"Well get her in here for a check up and I will talk to her."

"Me? I thought you were going to get her in here."

"I need to set up the growth medium for your test swabs" she said as she started to take plates out of a cabinet. "You get her to come here and I will do the exam and talk to her"

"Thanks Doc, you just added a bit of hell to a day that actually started out really well."

"Yes, that was my plan all along" she turned to him and smiled.

* * *

Kaidan left the med bay cubical and entered the cargo hold proper. Shepard was on the treadmill running. He contemplated... _okay which would be more productive, spend hours swabbing everything she comes in contact with in her day to day; or trying to get her into med bay for an exam. Damn and I really wanted to look into that item she found. _He ran his hands through his hair _why is it that I am always the one put between a rock and a hard place?_ He walked over to the treadmill.

"You looked like you were deep in thought a moment ago" she said to him as he approached.

"Yeah, trying to think if it is safer to talk to you; or to throw myself out of an airlock." he said.

She stopped the treadmill. "It's something I'm not going to like, is that it?"

"When do you like anything Shepard?" Kaidan said getting frustrated.

"I like my guns." she said getting off the treadmill and walking slowly and deliberately to stand in front of him. "And I _loved_ my _shower_ this morning." And Kaidan felt his cheeks heat with the blood that rushed to them. She said "So what do you want me to do, because I assume it's something that I have to do, that I am not going to like?"

"Doc wants you to come in for a checkup." He braced for impact, he wasn't disappointed.

"This is about the eating thing again isn't it!" She scowled at him. "You really have to leave me alone about this. I told you nothing tastes right! I can't help it if you don't believe me. I am not going to get an exam! There is nothing wrong with me Lieutenant." and she stalked off.

He took a deep breath then turned and followed slowly after her. It's a good thing the doors were automatic, because she would be slamming them. He turned into the corridor just in time to see her back disappear into the bedroom. He took another deep breath to steel himself and entered the room.

She was pacing the length of the room quickly. He tried to intercept her, but she went around him. Her fist keeping pace with her steps by banging on her leg. The look on her face left no doubt to how angry she was. He walked over to his bunk and sat down.

"Shepard..." She stopped and glared at him for a moment before resuming pacing. "Shepard I think you are sick."

"Lieutenant, I am not sick, I feel fine. You are wrong!" she snapped at him.

"It's just a check up, if I am wrong, you have nothing to worry about."

"You are wrong, and I don't need a check up to prove it!"

"Listen, it's the Doc's idea..." Kaidan started but she didn't let him finish.

"After you went to her and told her I wouldn't eat. After you told her that I think the food taste bad. This is all you Kaidan Alenko, don't you try and blame her!"

He stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders to halt her progress and said "Ari please..." She wrenched herself free of his grip.

"Don't you dare use that name for this!" _Okay that was a mistake_ he thought, _I just pushed her into __irrational. _She continued "that is for intimate moments only lieutenant! This is as far from intimate as you can get! At this point you may never get to use that name again!"

He took a deep breath and counted to ten. _This may all stem from whatever is effecting her medically._ He tried to tell himself._ She has a temper, but this is bad even for her. She isn't sleeping right, not eating; this could be why she has been so short tempered lately. _He tried another tactic "Commander, I do believe you. I mean I believe you food tastes bad."

That halted her progress. "You believe me?"

"Yes, I believe you. I have watched you eat, or try to avoid eating I should say. I see the face you make when you eat your food. I know it tastes bad to you. But don't you see, that is why you need a check up, so we can figure out why. You have to eat, Commander, you have to eat to live."

She flew into his arms and started kissing him all over his face. He held her close trying to contain her exuberance as he felt himself relax, the battle over. He caught her mouth with his pressing it deep, giving her a slow warm kiss before pulling back and looking into her beautiful blue eyes. "Does this mean I can use your name again?" He asked her.

"If you follow the rules; only in private and only during intimate moments." she said huskily.

"Shepard, I am all about the rules."

* * *

Entering the cargo bay Kaidan walked towards his workbench as Shepard headed to the med bay. He went to the cabinet and pulled out the small box he had put the alien technology in and placed it on the Bench and sat down in front of it. Using his omni tool he started to record the dimensions and physical characteristics of the piece. He noted the damage and his theories on what caused the damage. It didn't appear the damage was internal so he didn't believe it was an overload. The part that was missing must have contained the power module because he couldn't see any room for one it the intact part of the item.

He turned the piece around and examined the other side making note of all the details. He made sure he took a holo of the item checking to make sure that even the most insignificant detail had been captured. He got a probe from the equipment locker as well as a stronger light and a magnifier. He sat back down and set the piece in the vice grip. He proceeded to examine the item more closely. The outside did appear to have some organic qualities. It appeared malleable and there was some body to the skin. There were some smooth ports that could be status lights. He didn't see anything that could be an activation switch. He cataloged everything he could about the outside of the item. He turned it around in the vice so he could take a look at the inside.

* * *

Shepard entered the med lab and walked over to Dr. Chakwas. "You wanted to see me Doc?"

Doc looked at her through slitted eyes, "Kaidan did tell you that I wanted to do a check up, right?" she asked warily.

"Yes, he told me you think I am allergic to something." she saw the doctor relax "Hey I'm not that bad, am I Doc?"

"Shepard when you are in a temper, yes you are that bad, it's a bit trying."

"I'm sorry; I can't always stop it though."

"Yes, I know. Now let's get you set up for a scan."

An hour later after being poked and prodded, having given blood and other liquids, and having her nose swabbed (oh yes, that was pleasant), the exam was complete. "So Doc, what's the verdict, am I going to live?"

Well your white blood cells are up so something is definitely working on your system. I don't know what it is yet, but I am going to do some cultures. Now tell me about the food, what does it taste like?"

"It just taste terrible that's all, it smells vile too. I can smell it almost all the time now."

The doctor perked up at that "all the time?" she asked her.

"Pretty much yeah, why?"

The doctor went over to her terminal and started typing. Shepard got up and looked over her shoulder.

"Have you been anywhere warm and damp lately, like in the past few months." Dr. Chakwas asked.

"Yes, Vimire."

"Right, it was really warm there, but you were in the mako most of the time, weren't you."

"No, I like the water, we got out and walked most of the way, I like sneaking up on the geth, and I love to hide behind rocks and kill armatures while they shoot at the rocks." Shepard told her.

"And was there mold on the rocks."

"Yes, there was, but Doc that was like three months ago. And I went through decontamination before getting back on the ship."

"No you didn't remember, we were rushed because of the bomb, and Kaidan was injured, you entered through the cargo bay doors." Dr. Chakwas typed some more and then pulled up a picture of a wet hot planet and started to read. Shepard tried to read over her shoulder but it had a lot of medical phrases and she wasn't sure she understood it correctly.

"Okay Shepard, I need to send a probe into your sinus cavities."

"Why?"

"You may have a Hanar Parasite in one of them."

"Ew Doc, I am not liking the sound of that, and you look too happy about it."

"Well if it is the problem it's a quick fix and you can be eating dinner with us tonight without the bad smell or taste. It's really the smell that is the problem. The parasite is giving off the bad smell and that is why your food tastes bad." The doctor explained.

"And this bug is in me?"

"It isn't really a bug it's a mold nodule like a plant. I will take it out and clean out your sinus and you should be good as new."

"Okay Doc, have at it." Shepard said and then they heard a pop and a shout from outside the med bay cubicle. Shepard rushed to the door followed closely by the doctor. The shout had come from Kaidan.

* * *

He was sitting at his workbench with the thing she had found in a vice in front of him. Wrex was standing over him. His hands were down flat on the table, but it was his face that caught her eye, he looked scared.

"What happened?" she asked him.

"Get Garrus and Adams." Kaidan said, his voice was strained.

"Wrex get Adams, Doc get Garrus." she said, then went to touch his hand.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped. She pulled her hand back quickly a look of shock on her face. "I was looking at the inside of the piece that you found, I had tried to move a piece of it out-of-the-way, so I could look behind it. There shouldn't be any power to it; I don't see a power supply. There was a dark flash, and now I can't move my arms. And it's climbing higher."

"What do you think it is?" she asked.

"I don't know, paralytic or stasis field maybe. There does appear to be a shimmer along my skin."

She looked down at his skin. He was right, there was a shimmer, but it looked dark rather then bright. It didn't seem to touch the skin but kind of hovered over it. _Maybe if we could get something between the field and him, maybe that would disrupt the field. But what?_ She looked around and tried to think of anything that she could use. Then her eyes fell on Kaidan.

"Kaidan, have you tried to raise a barrier?"

"What?"

"Your barrier, have you tried to raise it? It hugs your skin, this field is kind of floating over your skin, if you could raise your barrier, then maybe it would disrupt the field."

Shepard watched as Kaidan concentrated. She could see sweat beads breaking out on his forehead. Garrus came in with the doctor, followed quickly behind by Wrex and Adams.

"What's going on?" Garrus asked her.

"He was looking at that thing I found on Prenedee and he somehow activated it, or part of it and now he can't move his hands or arms. If you look closely you can see a field of some kind hovering over his skin."

Garrus bent over to look at Kaidan's arms. Shepard watched Garrus for a moment and then put her eyes on Kaidan. The sweat was more pronounced now but he was starting to have that bluish tint that always came with his barrier. She realized to deploy his barrier he usually used his hand, so this must be a bit of a strain for him. Shepard looked at his hands, there did seem to be a bluish color coming up under the black filmy substance. The stronger the barrier got, the more you could see the black. Then suddenly there was a crack and spark and Kaidan was covered in his barrier, and the black was gone. Shepard let out her breath.

"Can you move now?" She asked him.

He lifted his hand to show her "yes, I can move. Shepard what made you think of the barrier."

"Well I noticed the film actually floated above your skin and I thought if we could get something between you and the film you would be okay. I was looking around the room for something and when I looked at you I realized you had a built in something. That's all." She told him.

"Well that was brilliant thinking." A rush of warmth ran over her. He said to Adams and Garrus "we are going to have to do more study on this and we are going to have to be very careful. I think we now know how the biotics are being taken. If they don't think to raise their barrier, they can't move. Once they are taken they can keep them locked up or unconscious. This is extremely advanced technology, there is no way that the batarians have this technology and from what you said its way over the heads of the vorcha too."

"Yes, that would be too much for the vorcha, that's for sure. It certainly has an organic look to it. Kaidan the only organic technology that comes to mind is Sovereign. This could be Reaper technology." Garrus told him.

"The Normandy was not attacked by a Reaper." Wrex said "we would have picked it up on a scan and recognized it. If this is Reaper technology, then the ones who have it could be working with the Reapers."

"Well it's just another thing we are going to need to find out." Shepard said and she did not get a good feeling about this. "Garrus, when you go back to the cockpit, tell Joker to head back to the vorcha ship, I think we need another look around."

"Alright, Shepard." Garrus answered.

She saw Kaidan rub his head "starting to get a headache?" she asked him.

"Yeah, too much stress I guess."

"Well I want to give you a check up anyway to make sure there are no adverse effects from what happened." the doctor told him.

"A checkup, Dr. Chakwas I don't need a check up."

"Ha!" Shepard felt satisfaction that he didn't want a check up either. "Than isn't it nice that I can order you to get one, since you know, alien technology and all and needing to know the ramifications and danger to the ship." She laughed at him as he gave her an angry look.

"Come on both of you, the faster we get this done the better it will be." the doctor told them.

"But Doc, I already had my exam." Shepard said.

"But if you remember right, Shepard, I haven't removed the problem yet."

"Oh, right. Well Adams it looks like you will be in charge for a bit. Have fun." she said as she headed to the med bay following the doctor with Kaidan in tow.

"Yes Commander" Adams said.

"So the doctor found out what is wrong with you." Kaidan asked her.

"Yep, I have a mold nodule living in my sinuses she thinks, from Virmire no less. This is just one more reason for me to hate that place. And it was such a pretty planet too."

* * *

Shepard left Kaidan in the med bay because his migraine had hit hard in the middle of his exam. The doctor got his medication into him and he was sleeping now. She hated to see him in pain, but this was one thing she couldn't defend him from. Her sinuses were still sore, but the offending nodules (because there was one in each sinus) were gone and in some airtight dish to be studied. Everyone who had been on Virmire was going to need to have an exam now to make sure they weren't infected too.

She walked into the mess and it didn't smell bad for once. She actually felt hungry too. She took some protein, some vegetables and a piece of fruit that they had gotten from Prenedee and sat down next to Liara, Joker and Wrex.

"So Commander, are you feeling better now?" Liara asked her.

She took a bite of her piece of fruit and it tasted sweet and clean and she felt the juices running down her throat. "Liara, I am feeling just Peachy." and she smiled.

* * *

"Okay so than where is it?" Shepard asked the three men in front of her.

"Well we left it here, this is the right place, the coordinates match." Joker said.

"Could someone have moved it" she asked them.

"Yes they could have." Garrus said sitting to the left of Joker.

"Yeah, but I don't think they did." Kaidan told her, he was sitting in the chair behind Joker. "Garrus look at the coordinates I just sent you. Isn't that a debris field?"

Garrus looked at the readout in front of him. "Yeah, that is a debris field."

"Joker move to these coordinates" Kaidan said as he touched the controls in front of him.

Shepard watched as Joker moved the ship into the position requested. This was not good, someone had obviously destroyed the ship and thus any evidence it contained. She would be really pissed if there were anything she could do about it.

"Well the field it the right size, it could be the vorcha ship. But, I am not getting any pieces large enough to scan." Garrus said.

"The energy signature of the weapon used it exactly the same weapon used against the Normandy. I am going to say that whatever attacked the Normandy, attacked this ship. I'm also going to say since this ship was much smaller then the Normandy, they were able to pulverize the ship into millions of tiny pieces." Kaidan turned and looked at Shepard. "They didn't want any evidence left behind, we were very lucky they didn't come back while we were on board her."

Shepard blanched at his words as a chill ran through her body. She looked into Kaidan's lovely brown eyes. _Yes very lucky_ she thought.


	8. The Hunt

Bioware owns All! Again thanks must go out to Star582 for her help in keeping me grounded in reality and only touching fantasy instead of trudging through with gory muck and mire...okay Carry On!

* * *

**The Hunt**

Breakfast was now a pleasant thing Kaidan noticed. Shepard got her food herself and ate it all, he no longer had to poke and prod her to eat. She would even smile a bit as she enjoyed her food. Things were finally back to normal, for now at least.

Kaidan, Garrus and Adams had tried to get a better look at the item they had found. Every time they tried to move or remove a piece from the inside of the item, the field would activate. They were able to figure out the range it had pretty quickly without a further incident, but for now, that is all they were able to accomplish. They may have to give it over to an Alliance lab, but then they wouldn't get any info from it because it would be deemed classified. Kaidan and Adams weren't giving up that easily.

The Search for the Attackers hadn't been going too well, they weren't picking up any trails even from the debris field location. Shepard had them crossing back and forth across the areas that they had found trails in previously trying to find something. It had been three days now and they were coming up empty. He kept waiting for her anger to return, but she seemed extremely calm lately. Although it was a nice change from her recent behavior, it also seemed a bit unusual. Shepard finished her breakfast and told him he'd see her later, gave him a wink and left the mess. Yeah, she was in a good mood, it was really unusual, given the circumstances.

Shepard went up to the cockpit to see if they found anything today. Garrus and Joker must have gotten up early, because she missed them at breakfast. She walked into the cockpit expecting them to groan at her, she was disappointed.

"Good Morning Shepard." Garrus said.

"What's up Commander" Joker tossed at her.

"So have we found anything yet Garrus?"

"No nothing yet." he said waiting for the thunder, but none came.

Shepard slid into the seat behind Joker. "Hey Garrus, would it be faster if two people searched the area?"

"Yes it would be, but everyone else is busy."

"I'm not busy. I am caught up on paperwork and have nothing else to do."

"I don't know Shepard..." Garrus scratched his head.

"You set it up, I'm just looking right, I won't press any buttons I will just move the scanner and check the readings, and I can help."

Garrus thought about what she was saying, with two people searching the area it would go twice as fast, and if she just looked for the numbers that were in the range of the trail that they were looking for, he could check her findings. He got up and went over to the console she was sitting at.

"Okay Commander, let's set you up." He set her controls to cover the opposite side of the quadrant from the one he was checking. He pulled up the numbers of the trail they had been searching for on an overhead screen. "These numbers are the trail indicators we are looking for, the variances are light so any trail that starts with these five numbers here we should check out. You know how to use the scanner, so you know what to do. If you see something similar to those numbers you let me know and I will check it out."

Shepard moved the scanner and then stopped "Like that?" She pointed to the screen in front of her.

Garrus looked at the numbers she was pointing at. "Yes exactly like that, Commander you just found the trail." Bending down in front of her, he was almost sitting in her lap. He started tapping away and transferred the locations to his and Jokers' terminals. "Joker, follow that trail" he said as he went back over to his terminal.

"Well my job is done here, guess I will go for a run." she said. Neither Joker nor Garrus answered her so intent on what they were doing. She shrugged her shoulders and left them alone.

* * *

Kaidan walked into the cargo bay and headed to his workbench. He had a gyro hyper casing for one of the FTL drives in his hands. It had to be disassembled and the circuit board rebuilt. He set it out on his workbench and turned to get his tools out of his locker. Setting up the tools on the bench he looked up and saw Shepard on her treadmill running. She wasn't running at a frantic pace like she had been, but a more comfortable lope really. He smiled to himself as he removed the outer casing of the gyro. _Damn_ he thought to himself _it_ _figures this stupid ship would have an old AL6 type gyro, no wonder Adams asked me to do this for him. I am going to have to take this whole thing apart just to get to the circuit board._ He took a deep breath and let it out. _Well there is nothing else to do but to have at it._ He got to work.

Finally removing the last capacitor that was blocking the circuit board, he rubbed the sweat from his forehead. He put the capacitor down and looked over at Shepard. She was reclining in her chair with her feet up on a crate she had moved next to the desk just for that purpose. She had a data pad in her hand that she was reading. He saw that she was running her hand back and forth in the space under her neck. That meant she was reading one of her nineteenth century romance novels, probably Jane Austin. It wasn't like she hadn't read them a hundred times before, she just liked them. He looked at her face and saw the joy there; yes she was really enjoying that book. He started to imagine going over there and taking her in his arms.., he shook his head. He looked back at the circuit board. _Yeah, if something doesn't change soon I might have to wake her in the middle of the night to take another 'shower' with me This ship is really cutting into my Shepard time._ He set to removing the circuit board from its housing.

* * *

Shepard and Kaidan entered the cockpit having been summoned by Garrus.

"Shepard I found something." Garrus said, pointing to the screen in front of him. "It looks like a freighter... yes, the MSV Rocklin, but it's just sitting dead out there. The trail leads up to it, pools a bit then goes off beyond it. It seems really fresh."

"Well we have to get over there." Shepard said.

"I don't know Shepard, the last time they left a dead ship they came back and destroyed it." Kaidan said.

"Yes, but you had time to examine it first. Whatever reason they leave the ships and come back to them for, we should have some time." She answered. "Let's go, come on Garrus, hurry."

They were in their armor in record time. Entering the air lock of the ship the first thing Shepard noticed was the strong taint of blood. It permeated the air and coated her tongue. "They are all dead" she said.

"Yeah, I smell it too. This is going to go the way of the last one, I can see it now. Let's count bodies and see what's up here." Kaidan suggested. "Move fast, we don't know how much time we have."

"I'll go download the pilot's logs and see what I can find there." Shepard told them and she sent them in different directions to cover more ground."

She had just gotten the last three logs downloaded to an OSD as Jokers voice came over the comm. "Commander I am getting readings that there is a buildup of the trail signature beyond the ship. I think they are coming back... we need to move."

"In a minute." she said putting another OSD into the terminal. Kaidan came running into the cockpit.

"No, now!" he yelled at her.

"Just one more..." but he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder and ran for the airlock.

"Kaidan put me down I just wanted..."

"No! These beings have us outgunned, any delay and we will be dead." He threw her down in the Salice's airlock hit the door and yelled in his comm "FTL out now, Joker, we're all aboard."

"We're clear." Joker's voice came over the comm. "That was close, but I don't think they got a bead on us, they weren't quite in range, so we should be safe. It's only because I was looking for it that I noticed it at all."

"Good job, Joker" Kaidan said "thanks."

Garrus and Kaidan cringed at the stream of curses that Shepard let loose as the decontamination ran its course. Heads turned towards them from the few crew members that were in the area when the door opened to the ship proper, but she kept her spew going all the way to the bedroom to change out of her armor. Kiadan followed at a slower pace. He turned when he realized that Garrus wasn't following him "you coming?" he asked.

"No, I think I will wait until the coast is clear."

"Yeah, thanks." Kaidan continued to the bedroom.

Shepard had stopped cursing and was sitting on his bed with her armor half on and half off. When he walked through the door she jumped up and went back to removing her armor and putting it in her locker.

"You know we didn't have any time to lose." He said to her. She didn't say anything so he continued. "They have an advantage over us, we can't take any chances. The Normandy was no match for these beings; the Salice is even less equipped to take them on." He paused as he took his chest piece over his head. He noticed she was almost finished dressing and he had missed it. He liked watching her get dressed (although undressed was better). "Shepard, you have to see the logic of my argument here."

She finished putting on her boots, got up, strode right past him and out of the room without saying a word to him. Now that was odd, usually he was in for at least a ten minute shouting match, where he would have to work to calm her down or give in. He usually gave in. The fact that there was no shouting match bother him more than the match would have.

Garrus came in the door "that was fast."

"Yeah, she didn't say anything." Kaidan told him.

"What do you mean she didn't say anything?"

"Not one word, from the time I came in until the time she left."

"Did you try to explain?" Garus asked.

"Yes, she didn't respond."

"Okay, does that bother you as much as it bothers me?"

"Yes, Garrus, yes it does." Kaidan told him as he left the room.

* * *

Kaidan walked into the cargo bay and looked around for Shepard, she was no where in sight. He was about to turn around and look somewhere else when the doctor came out of the med bay and called to him.

She came over to him "If you're looking for Shepard, she is in med bay."

"Yes, I was, thanks Doc. Is she sick?"

"No she said she just wanted to use my terminal. I am going to wash up before lunch, see you there?"

"Sure Doc, see you there." He headed into the med bay. She was sitting at the terminal and had an OSD loaded up.

"Well they didn't have any warning. The ship just came up on them and they lost all systems. There is nothing after that." He pulled up a chair and sat next to her, she pointed at the screen "it shows here that they have a crew of twenty and Garrus said he only found nine. How many bodies did you find?"

"Six, three in the bedroom, three in the mess."

"With the two I found it the cockpit that leaves Seventeen, it's what I thought."

"What?"

She started working on the terminal "just let me pull up the record for the MSV Rocklin and see if my theory is correct." the screen flashed several times as she searched for the information that she wanted. "Yep I was right, they had three biotics on board, and they are all gone. I think they attacked that ship because it had biotics on board."

"Well that isn't much of a stretch, considering what we know. There didn't seem to be much of a fight put up, none at all in fact. They could have used that stasis field generator thing to freeze the crew and then they just killed them."

"It might have just been an attack of opportunity. They just happened to run across the Rocklin, were able to scan for biotics and then boarded the ship. All supposition of course."

"You think they attacked the Normandy because I was on board?" Kaidan asked her.

"No, they didn't try to disable the Normandy and board her, they attacked without warning. They weren't trying to get you, they were trying to destroy the ship. I think they went after the Normandy because they are working for, or with, the Reapers. They destroyed the Normandy because she destroyed Sovereign. That's my theory anyway." She sat back in the chair.

"That sounds like a well thought out supposition Commander," he said formally as he turned in his seat to face her. "Would you care to expound on the details and the intricacies that brought you to that conclusion?" He pulled her towards him and started running his lips along her neck, feeling her shiver in his arms as his lips touched her. He paused to add softly, "I would be most interested in your thought processes."

She leaned into him and he felt her pulling the back of his shirt out of his pants. She let out a small gasp as he worked gently at the spot just below her ear. Her bare hands slid under his shirt, making their way up his back and his body warmed at her touch. He worked his way slowly around her neck, and then slid up her chin to her mouth savoring the scent of her. He felt her hands kneading at his back. A small moan escaped her lips opening them just enough for him to invade them with his tongue. Her tongue met his in a little dance as he drank in her taste, running his hands down her sides and pushing them under her bottom to give her a little squeeze. She pulled back and looked in his eyes, a dreamy look on her face.

"I would love to continue this to what I think would be a most enjoyable conclusion, but we need to go to lunch."

He dropped his head into her chest and groaned, then took a deep breath to drink in her smell. He lingered there for a moment before he said "I really would like to have some time alone with you."

Shepard stood up and caressed his cheek with her hand before dropping it to his shoulder. "Let's go eat." She patted his shoulder and walked towards the door. Then she stopped and turned towards him. He stared longingly into her eyes as she said to him "You find the time and the place and yes, Kaidan, I'd like that." He smiled and got up and followed her out the door.

* * *

They walked into the mess and Joker, Garrus, Dr. Chakwas, Liara and Wrex were already there Shepard motioned to Kaidan to sit down and she went and got their lunch putting the bigger biotic portion in front of him.

"Okay it time to play; what do we know, what can we prove." Shepard said as she sat down. "They are after biotics."

"Know, but can't prove. The biotics twins were taken by batarians, the four colonists by vorcha the only ones that can tie it together is us. The Citadel is not known to take anything we give them as proof." Kaidan said. "And the last four from the Rocklin, well that ship is probably history now. There is no proof that they were taken except that we counted bodies and theirs were missing. Again we're back to us being the proof."

"Yes it's so nice to know that the team that saved the Citadel can't be trusted to give evidence" Wrex said.

Nodding her head in agreement Shepard said "they use a stasis field of some type to incapacitate their victims."

"Well we can prove that someone is using it. We can't prove who. We can't prove how effective it is. From what little we have learned it would have to be up close and personal. That means that it's some hand held device. If we do give it in as evidence we lose it forever." Garrus said.

"I can prove that the lasting effects of said field are minimal based on Kaidan's recovery." Dr. Chakwas said.

"Alright and this is something else we know. They stopped the Rocklin dead in her tracks, cut her systems off cold." Shepard said.

"Well we can prove that from the OSD, but the Rocklin's scanners weren't state of the art." Kaidan said.

"Which means they may choose to discard that proof as unreliable." Joker said.

"They can claim a system power outage, that had nothing to do with the ship on the scanner, and that it was coincidence." Wrex said.

"Next item, the attackers are working for or with the Reapers." Shepard said waiting for the reactions.

"Well they do have bio-organic tech" Garrus said.

"Their weapons are definitely above ours." Joker pointed out. "But I don't think that makes an automatic jump to Reapers."

"But they could see the Normandy even though our stealth systems were engaged." Liara said "Sovereign didn't see the Normandy when we went to Ilos."

"Right, which fits with my theory that the attackers were looking specifically for the Normandy." Shepard said.

Everyone started talking at once and it took a few minutes for it to die down.

"Why do you think that Shepard?" Joker asked. "Why come after the Normandy?"

"Because our stealth systems were engaged the attacker had to be looking for us, as in visually. They wouldn't have any reason to use a visual check unless they were specifically looking for the Normandy. My theory is that they wanted to take down the Normandy because of Sovereign. This, for me, puts them in league, somehow, with the Reapers."

She looked at the faces at the table all deep in thought about what she had said. She felt Kaidan's hand on her thigh rubbing it to comfort her, or maybe himself, he had heard this theory before, albeit, not too long ago.

"So once more we are stepping into the gates of hell." Garrus says.

"Figures, this time I'm bringing marshmallows." Joker quips.

"If what you say is true, we all have big targets painted on our backs" Dr. Chakwas told them. "Anyone that was on the Normandy could be on their target list."

"They would especially be after Shepard." Liara pointed out.

Kaidan looked at Shepard. "Liara has a point, which means that they could be looking for you as well as biotics."

"I don't see the point. I couldn't have done it without all of you. It makes no sense to go after me. It makes more sense to go after the Normandy. She was a symbol and they wanted her taken down." Shepard said.

"But Shepard, you're a symbol too." Wrex pointed out.

Shepard shook her head. She didn't want to think about that now. "Never mind that now. Let's just get back on point."

Kaidan gave her leg a squeeze. "Okay, you suspect it, but you can't prove it." He said bringing them back to the topic at hand.

"So what do we have?" Garrus asked.

"As usual, we have a whole lot of nothing!" Shepard said totally dejected.

"Not nothing" Dr. Chakwas corrected her, "just not enough."


	9. A Witness

Bioware owns all! Everytime, everywhere, everybody. And again a big thank you to Star, without her you would never get your smut! You would be smutless. On the up side though the chapter would have been a lot shorter. But it's not so...

* * *

**A Witness**

"I don't care Shepard." Kaidan yelled.

"I know you don't want to give it up, but we have got to figure out how it works." Shepard answered calmly.

"You didn't even discuss this with me, you just told Joker to head for the Citadel." still yelling.

"I knew you wouldn't like my decision, so yes, I didn't discuss it with you." still calm.

It was a good thing they were alone in the bedroom, because his anger was not abating. "We are a team, hell we are more than that. You always discuss everything with me. How could you disregard my feelings in this so easily?"

"It wasn't easy, but you have to understand. I need to get these enemies, this is personal. I don't want to wait. I want them now. I want them to pay." She said strongly, but still calm.

He grabbed her by her shoulders. "Shepard, they will take this and investigate it yes, but they won't share. You won't get the information you want from them. If in any way they can tie it to the Reapers the council will never release it and certainly not to you!"

"I need the information, Kaidan. I need to stop these beings from taking people." she said pulling away from him.

"Damn it! Why don't you ever trust me? Why is it always a fight with you? I can't believe you would go behind my back like this, that I would have to find out from Garrus!"

She didn't answer him right away. Kaidan could see her concentrating real hard. She took a deep breath. "So your not angry that I want to give it up, your angry that I didn't tell you myself?"

"I am very angry that you want to give it up. I am angry that you didn't tell me. I am angry that you didn't ask me for my opinion. And I am very angry that you don't trust me enough to do this my way for once." He said, still loud but the level was dropping.

"And your way would be...?"

"Let me, Garrus and Adams keep trying to work it out. Between us we have excellent skills and we will be able to work it out. I am just asking you to give me time." Kaidan said finally in his normal voice.

He watched her eyes, he could see that she was angry, but surprisingly she had not lost her temper. He just realized that for all his yelling she didn't even raise her voice. She was concentrating hard again breathing deeply. He was about to ask her about it when she said,

"I do trust you Kaidan, I always have. This is something I will have to think about and I will let you know my decision before we get to the Citadel."

"So we're still going to the Citadel, doesn't that mean that you haven't changed your mind." He was getting louder again.

"No, we were going to the Citadel because I was called back there by the Council. I told Garrus about handing the item over because it had to be safely packed." she told him.

"I still can't believe you would decide to give it up without taking to me. You know, I think your right, I think I am more angry that you didn't talk to me about it first."

"Yeah well I was trying to avoid having an argument about it." she said looking rueful.

"Cause you know your wrong." Kaidan said trying to push her buttons now.

"I am not wrong Alenko!" she snapped, then caught herself. "I just want the information." she said calmly again.

"Alright, that's it, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked.

"You were angry there, just for a moment, then you stopped, that is not like you at all, what is going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She turned to leave but he grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him.

"I am not going to let you go until you tell me what is going on." Kaidan told her.

"There is nothing going on, now let me go."

"No."

"Kaidan, you let me go, now!" Shepard said slowly.

He knew she was really starting to get angry now, she hated to not be in control. And she especially hated when he used his strength on her. She was starting to struggle now and she was getting some purchase. He moved them over towards their bunk so he could trap her against something. She tripped him thinking he would lose his hold on her but instead it landed her on his bunk with him on top of her. It gave him the edge he needed to keep her pinned. Of course she could get free if she wanted to hurt him, but he was counting on her not wanting to injure him.

She started to struggle in the most tantalizing way. It was hard for him not to let go and run his hands down her body, but he would never find out what was going on that way. On the other hand he couldn't prevent his body from reacting to hers either. If he let her go now though the only thing he would get for it was dropped on his ass.

"Kaidan Alenko you let me go this instant or I will..." Her struggling was making it harder for him to concentrate, but if he gave in now he would never know what was wrong.

"There! There it is, you wonderful temper, I thought you had lost it. Here I was yelling in your face and your temper never showed. Now tell me what is going on!" He looked in her eyes and the anger was gone. She stopped struggling and she looked guilty.

"I was trying not to be 'that bad'." she said softly.

"What do you mean 'that bad'?" Kiadan asked.

"When I went into see Doc when I was infected with the mucus, she was worried about my anger. I asked her if it was that bad, and she said it was. I was trying not to be that bad. But it was really hard before. You yelling in my face, and I so wanted to let you have it. I don't think that I can keep it up. I don't think I can pretend that I am not angry when I am. I don't think I cannot yell back. It's not easy at all."

"Yeah it's not healthy either, you could give yourself stress illnesses. What made you decide to try that. Did you talk to Doc about it?"

"No I was just trying to yell inside, and not outside that's all." Shepard told him.

"Well I think we need to go back to the way it was okay?"

"You're sure about that?"

"Yeah, holding in your anger, especially your anger, yeah that's not healthy, Shepard." Kaidan told her.

The next thing he knew he was flat on his back halfway across the room and she was striding over to him.

"Don't you ever pin me down like that again or I will give you something to remember me by that will not bring a smile to you face mister. If I want to give that tech over to the Citadel scientists I will and you will just shut up you mouth about it. I am in charge here, not you!" But her words didn't have the impact she wanted them to, because she wasn't really angry anymore. He waited until she was close enough and grabbed her so she fell on top of him.

"Yeah, it only works when you're really angry my dear." he said huskily to her.

"Well I was thinking that all the yelling that was going on in here, no one would dare come in here. And it would be a shame to put what my struggling had caused to waste." she said as he felt her hands start to travel up the sides of his body.

He lifted his head to look into her beautiful eyes and then dropped it back down and groaned.

"Yeah, you're going to shoot me down again aren't you soldier boy?" Shepard said to him.

"You know if it gets too quiet in here they are going to have to check to see if we killed each other. There is no lock on the door, and suspecting that we are fraternizing and confirming it are two different things." He said as he gave himself the pleasure of running his hands up the sides of her body.

"You know Kaidan, one of the things I like about you is your practicality." she said as she got up off him."

"Why thank you Shepard." he said as he stood up.

Shepard went over and stood right in front of him, so he was looking deep into her blue eyes, and he hears her say "it's also one of the things I hate about you." And she knocked him back onto his ass, turned and marched out of the room.

* * *

"So Commander we received a Letter of Commendation for you from the planet Prenadee from a Jacob Smith. He thanks us for sending you so quickly to investigate the deaths of his colonists." The asari Councilor said. "I believe this is something the Alliance requested you check out."

"Yes Ma'am, I was in the area when we received the request from Alliance Command." _The fact that I was on the planet before they asked they didn't know. "_I was glad to help Ma'am" Shepard said.

"And what did you find out in your investigation?" The Councilor asked.

"The colonists were killed by vorcha, there was a dead vorcha found on the scene. We followed the trail of the vorcha ship, but when we got to it there was only a debris field leading us to believe that the ship had a catastrophic failure." Shepard said, not the exact truth, but it was the one they felt safe giving. "It's all in my report Ma'am." She was hoping they wouldn't take time to read the report, since they called her here. If they asked for the item they found, she would have to give it up, and she told Kaidan this morning that she wouldn't.

"Yes your report was most illuminating." _Here it comes_ thought Shepard. "Well do you think the vorcha are invading council space or was this just one small group?"

Shepard took a deep breath in relief. "I believe this was just a band of mercenaries Ma'am, not an invasion force." She looked at the other Councilors but it appeared none of them had actually read the report, not even Anderson, who got it twice since the report went to the Alliance too. She had always suspected that reports were skimmed so when she wrote this one she buried the fact that they found something and were studying it, in the middle of the report not bringing any attention to it as she normally would have. This way they could investigate the item without interference. It looked like her assumptions were correct, no one actually read the whole report. There was a good chance some clerk at the Alliance might read it eventually, but he wouldn't understand the importance of it and wouldn't realize he had to forward it to someone.

"Well Shepard, as usual you do us proud. Please continue your outstanding work." The asari Councilor said dismissing Shepard.

"Yes Ma'am, I will"

* * *

As she left the Council Chambers she received a message on her omni tool from Kaidan with coordinates on it. She had given everyone shore leave and it was up to Kaidan to find a place for them since she had to go to the meeting. Walking over to the transport hub she secured transport and locked in the coordinates.

She recognizes the apartment as soon as the transport landed. It was the same apartment she had gotten from Barla Von. She walks up to the door intending to press the alert button when the door swings open and she is pulled inside.

"What took you so long?" he asks. He pulls her close, his lips on her neck.

She shivers as his lips touch the tender spot under her ear. _Oh he knows I love that. _She closes her eyes and tries to form the words to answer his question but his lips drive the thoughts from her head. "Councilors, you know. Oh!" She can't stifle her moan as he moves down to the hollow of her neck. She still has her armor on and it quickly becomes clear that further exploration is impossible.

He groans. "You have to take you armor off; it's seriously interfering with my attempt to bend you to my will."

Shepard laughs and pulls away from him. She heads towards the bedroom undoing her armor as she walks. "Take off your boots now, they always cause a break in the mood" she tells him. He sits in the chair across from the bed and removes his boots then sits back and watches as she removes hers. She pulls off her chest piece, slowly lifts it over her head knowing his eyes are following her every move.

She unhooks the bottom half of her armor and begins to remove it slowly first one leg, then the other. She can't help but notice his breathe quicken. She slowly walks over to him wearing the reinforced shorts and tee shirt that everyone wears under their armor. He grabs her hips as soon as she is in range, pulling her towards him and she sees the lust in his beautiful brown eyes. She feels his hands working their way under her shirt and dances away.

"Stand up" she tells him. He stands. She walks over to him, and he reaches for her. She pushes his hands away. "Just wait," she tells him. She walks behind him and begins to undress him, slowly removing first his shirt, then his pants, discarding them onto a nearby chair before moving back in front of him. Making sure she stays just out of reach, she very slowly raises her shirt up over her head. She notices his lips part as if he can't get enough air, and runs her fingertips under the waistband from mid stomach to her hips, slowly pulling them off and tossing them away. She reaches around to undo her bra and hears him breathe in sharply as she falls free of her restraints.

As she slowly walks towards him, he reaches up pulling her into his embrace. He still wears his underwear so she slides her hands down to remove the offending garment before moving back into his arms. She feels his hands slowly move down her back, his lips slowly working on her neck again. She moans and feels him smile against her neck. She breathes deeply, drawing in his musky scent, closing her eyes as she feels his hands travel to her backside which he squeezes before lifting her up. She puts her legs around him as he walks over to the bed and lays down with her. She runs her fingers up into his hair pulling his lips up to meet hers. As she explores his mouth she feels his hands manipulating the softer parts of her body in an attempt to keep time with his rhythm. She feels the heat build in her depths as his pace quickens. Her hands try to find purchase on his back as he sends her over the edge. As the fire still courses through her body she hears his sharp intake of breath as he plunges into the fire with her.

As she slowly ascends back to reality, she feels the weight of Kaidan's body on hers. She feels the heat of his breath on her neck where his head rests. She feels his heart beating against hers. She feels content.

* * *

Sunlight streaming in the window wakes Shepard from her sleep. She had just thought of something too, something important. She tries to capture the thought, but it's fleeting and she can't quite grasp it. Kaidan has her trapped in his arms as he sleeps and she is unable to turn from the sun. She feels his breath on the back of her neck. She groans and takes the sheet and puts it over her head trying to block the sunlight. Although the sheet only partially blocks the sun it is enough that she can close her eyes and attempt to go back to sleep. Just at she is about to fall asleep the thought returns.

"Documented!" she says aloud.

"Mmmrrm" Kaidan mumbles into the back of her neck and pulls her closer to him.

"Kaidan, wake up."

"Mmm huh." he acknowledges but clearly not waking.

"Kaidan it's important." He kisses the back of her neck, gives her a hug and settles down again clearly not attempting to wake up.

"Alenko up now!" she snaps out and he sits up right away pulling her with him.

"What? What's going on?" he asks her.

"Remember when we talked right after Eden Prime." She asks him.

"Shepard, tell me you did not wake me for a trip down memory lane."

"Seriously do you remember what you said?"

Kaidan yawns, "in what context?"

"When I asked you if you were a career man."

"Yeah I said something about being a biotic and not going undocumented..." and he realizes where she is going with her questions.

"Right you told me that biotics don't go undocumented, which means that we can find the colonies that have any or multiple biotics and check on them. We might get lucky. Come on, get up. We have to get going." Shepard tells him.

"Shepard, it is 0500 hours ship time, you gave the crew shore leave until 1800 hours tonight. We will not be able to leave before then." he reminds her.

"Yeah but we can get the information from the Alliance archives and decide where to go first." She starts to get up but he pulls her back down into the bed.

"Shepard, ship time is Citadel time, since the Normandy was, and the Solice is, assigned to the council Spectre that is sitting in this room ignoring her boyfriend. The Alliance archives won't be open for hours and there is no guarantee that they will be able to provide the information as it was pretty damaged during the fight against Saren."

She frowns at him. "Well there has to be something I can do now."

Kaidan grins at her wickedly then pulls her towards him and commences working oh her neck.

As she feels his lips gently work on that sensitive spot under her ear she says "you know you always..." she catches her breath feeling the heat race down her body, before continuing "Always shoot me down when...oh, wow... Kaidan..." her hands clutch at his chest as he works towards the nape of her neck.

"You have something you want to say to me?" he whispers against her neck, his hands explore her body as his lips and tongue continue their manipulations.

"I wan...umm...I, oh...uh, ah..." She surrenders to his superior will.

* * *

The Solice lands on the planet Scolankton. Wrex and Garrus walk behind her as she heads for the spaceport office.

"Tell me again why I couldn't stay on the ship with Alenko and Adams as they work on the item?" Garrus asks her.

"Because I am just not in the mood for Liara today, she always acts weird right after shore leave." Shepard tells him.

"That's because she is jealous of the Lieutenant spending time with you." Wrex says.

"I don't think that's it Wrex. Maybe she just doesn't have a good time on shore leave." Shepard tells him.

"No it's the mating that bothers her." Wrex informs her.

"Wrex, I so don't want to talk about this on so many levels. Please can we just forget about it."

"So I can go and get Liara and stay with Adams and..." Garrus says but is cut off.

"No! Now lets see if we can find the biotics, with any luck they are off working somewhere together." She tells them as they enter the office.

"Bernard Harrison at your service Ma'am. Not everyday you get to meet a Spectre." the gentleman stood as they entered.

"Mr. Harrison, I understand you have three biotics living in this small colony." Shepard asks him.

"Well four as of yesterday. Little Jenny Mattherson just showed her powers. The doctor had been watching her since her ma was accidentally exposed in the 2170's. She was fitted with her implant, but hasn't gone to training yet. Somehow her implant activated prematurely and our biotics, Ronnie, Tesla and Codin, went over to show her how to control it." Harrison explains

"So they are all together, where is this?" Shepard asks him.

Mattherson farm, it's about twelve clicks due east of here.

"Thank you Mr. Harrison." Shepard says and leads the others back outside.

"Garrus you go in and get the mako ready, Wrex tell Kaidan to suit up. If I have an untrained human biotic I am going to need him. You might as well get Liara too, Wrex. Garrus after you get the mako ready, you can stay here with Adams and solve that other mystery for me." Shepard tells them.

Shepard heads over to the spaceport control room to see if there is any way to find out if a stray ship has landed recently. She is disappointed to find out that the control room consists of a desk, a chair and a data pad, that's it. Cursing the backward colony she heads for the ship and sees the mako coming down the ramp. Liara in her red armor and Kaidan in his new camouflage armor walking down the ramp behind it.

"Did Garrus and Wrex bring you up to speed?" she said to them as she started to climb up the mako.

"Yes, do you know how old this child is?" Kaidan asks.

"No, I didn't ask, but he said that the mother was exposed in the 2170's so she can't be more then thirteen."

"That would coincide with puberty, it makes sense, why they didn't get her to training earlier..."

"Well the control room consists of a desk, chair and data pad, why do you think?" Shepard tells him as she drops inside the mako.

* * *

Ten minutes later Shepard is looking out the scanner at the farm and she sees gunfire.

"There's gunfire, they are here." she alerts the others.

Wrex stops the mako so they can approach on foot hopefully surprising the kidnappers. Shepard drops down followed by Wrex. Liara and Kaidan follow right behind him.

"Okay Wrex we take the front, Kaidan, you and Liara the rear, remember there are civilians in there, watch your aim."

She walks slowly keeping cover trying to get sight of one of the villains. Walking close to the house she takes a peek around the front and sees a shuttle with two vorcha carrying a body towards it. She pulls out her sniper rifle and gets them both with one shot each. The body drops to the ground and the shuttle takes off before the door is fully closed.

"Shit, Wrex get Kaidan, tell him I need him up front then take Liara and see if you can find any stragglers or survivors." Shepard tells him then runs over to the body on the ground making sure she still keeps her eyes out for anyone who might have gotten left behind.

The body has a field that resembles the one Kaidan had activated on the Salice around it. Shepard sees that it is a young girl maybe eleven or twelve years of age. Her eyes are looking at Shepard with fear in them. Still watching the area around her Shepard talks to the girl.

"Jenny if you can hear me, my name is Commander Shepard and I am here to help you, no one is going to hurt you now."

Shepard sees Kaidan come around the corner also alert for stragglers. He comes over and checks on the girl while Shepard keeps watch.

"Young lady..." Kaidan says.

"Jenny, her name is Jenny." Shepard tells him.

"Jenny, my name is Lieutenant Alenko and I am a medic. I am here to help you." then to Shepard "I don't know what to do to break the field. I have some ideas how to disrupt it, but I wouldn't want to use them on a child that has been traumatized."

"Well we have to try..." as she is talking the field dissipates and the child starts screaming.

Shepard looks at Kaidan. "Well?"

He reaches down to help the girl but she screams louder and pushes away from him heading for Shepard.

"You better get Liara, my child skills are nonexistent." She tells him as she takes the girl in her arms.

"What are you going to do if we have kids?" he asks her.

"Don't you know what to do? Besides, stop the Reapers first, then maybe I'll take a class." she tells him.

"A class, Shepard?"

"Kaidan, get Liara, you can question me about my parenting skills later, but you better bring chocolate."

Shepard rocks the girl in her arms telling her everything will be alright. The girls crying slows. Liara comes around the side with Wrex and Kaidan in tow. She takes off her helmet and sits down in front of Shepard and Jenny.

"Jenny my name is Liara, you want to come sit with me, so the Commander can do what she has to do?" Liara's gentle voice is more inviting than Shepards. Jenny looks up at Shepard who nods at her and then she moves into Liaras arms. Shepard activates her comm.

"Joker lock in on my signal, I need Dr. Chakwas here for a colony child that had been trapped in a stasis field."

"Shouldn't we be going after the vorcha Shepard." Wrex asks.

"What we have here is a real live witness Wrex, besides survivor first. Did you find any other survivors?"

"No Shepard, we didn't."

Liara had been able to calm the child and convince her to allow Kaidan to check her out. He ran into the house and came out with a blanket to wrap her in.

"Can we talk to her?" Shepard asks him.

"No, she is in shock, we will need to get her to Chakwas."

The ship appears as he is talking and proceeds to land in a field that has something green growing in it. Kaidan lifts the girl with Liara still holding onto her so as not to upset the child. They walk over to the ramp where Dr. Chakwas is coming down to meet them.

"Her name is Jenny Matterson, Doc. She is a biotic, untrained." Shepard tells her.

"She was trapped in a stasis field when we found her, the field dissipated on its own. Her vitals are fine but she is in shock." Kaidan adds as he puts her down on the gurney the doctor has brought.

"Jenny, my name is Dr. Chakwas, I am going to make you feel better." Jenny had Liara hand held close to her and was not letting it go.

"It appears that I am coming with you doctor." Liara says.

"Okay, let's get her inside." Dr. Chakwas pushed the gurney back into the ship.

Shepard pulls her helmet off and tosses it into the ship.

"Let's get Garrus and go over this place with a fine tooth comb. If there is anything here, I want it." she tells the men.

"What about the ship?" Wrex asks.

"We can't take the child on a search mission that might get us killed. We won't be able to release the child until she is stable, and shock is not something to mess with. I think we are stuck this time."

"But we were so close this time." Wrex says.

"Not close enough." Kaidan says as he looks at a colonist's body.

"But this time, we have a witness." Shepard says with satisfaction.


	10. Learning

Bioware owns all! Now remember, If you have played ME2 then you know a lot more than the crew do at this point. Sorry for the delay, They made me go on vacation and to a communications conference.

Like it. Hate it. Unfortunately this one is all Me!

* * *

**Learning**

Jenny whimpered and clung tighter to Liara.

"Now Jenny, you remember Lieutenant Alenko, he helped you feel better on your planet, Scolankton." Liara says to her rubbing the child on the arm.

"Okay Jenny, I want to show you something. It's broken, so it can't hurt you anymore. It's something you may have seen. If you have seen it before, I want you to tell me what it looked like before it was broken, okay." Kaidan waits for her to acknowledge.

Jenny looks at Liara "it's okay, I won't let anything hurt you. The Lieutenant won't let anything hurt you, and Dr. Chakwas won't either. You can trust us Jenny. We need your help, really. Can you help us Jenny?"

"Okay." Jenny says in a small frightened voice.

Kaidan opens the box and holds it down so she can look inside. She whimpers and tries to climb into Liaras arms.

"Wait, Jenny, look" Kaidan lifts the piece out of the box. "See it's been damaged, it's broken. It doesn't work anymore and it can't hurt you."

Jenny looks at the piece of technology. She loosens her grip on Liara.

"It's missing the leash." Jenny says surprised.

"The leash?" Kaidan asks her.

"Yes, that is only half as big as it should be and it doesn't have the leash connected to it. And it is only one. There should be more and they had leashes too." Jenny tells him.

Kaidan tries to picture what she is describing.

"So this thing has a leash attached so it can be recalled? You know like pulled back." He asks her.

"Yes, they come out of a tube and they fly at you. The leash trails behind. If they touch you, then you can't move. Then they get pulled back into the tube."

"What does the tube look like?" Kaidan asks her.

"Like a tube. It has a handle on the top of it to hold. They walk into the room and the things fly out and touch everyone and then no one can move. Then they pull them back in. Then they come in and..." Jenny stops talking and grabs Liara and starts to cry again.

"It's okay Jenny, they aren't going to hurt you again." Liara takes the girl in her arms and rocks her.

"That's all you're going to get out of her right now, Kaidan." Dr. Chakwas says.

"Yes, I guess so." He puts the item back into the box. "It's more than we had though."

"Yes it is" the doctor says.

* * *

"So they shoot them out of some kind of tube, means they don't have to get too close to the victims." Shepard says.

Kaidan, Garrus are standing and Adams is sitting at the workbench in front of her with the item in front of them. Shepard is sitting across from them watching their progress, which is still very minimal.

"Well she did say leash, so I assume there is a limit to how far they can go. I would hazard a guess that the next generation of this technology will be a version that doesn't need a leash. Let's hope they are not that close to that improvement." Kaidan says.

"Can you figure out why the stasis field disappeared off of Jenny?" Shepard asks.

"Well we have theories." Adams tells her "It could have a time limit, but that seems unlikely. More likely there is a power source on the ship that maintains the stasis field once it is created and when the ship is out of range it collapses the field."

"If that is the case, it has a pretty long reach, since the ship was probably reaching orbit when her field collapsed." Kaidan says.

"Okay so we need a way to prevent the stasis field and we need a way to block the power source." Shepard says.

"Well to block the delivery system definitely, we need to work something out. But the power source, that is just one theory. The right one could be one of a hundred different theories. We also need to work a way to break the stasis fields either as a whole or individually." Kaidan says.

"Yes because it isn't likely that they are going to stop what they are doing now is it?" Garrus asks.

"No, not likely. I wish I knew why they were doing this, and more importantly, who they are doing it for." Shepard tells them.

"Yes that does seem to be a conundrum." Adams says.

"Wait, if there is a power source needed than why did that field on Kaidan stay when he activated it?" Shepard asked.

"Well I can think of two possible reasons. The first would be that the greater power source doesn't take over until the field is complete. The field around Kaidan was never completed. The second theory is that this one is damaged and that may have effected the individual power source. It could have been a short of some kind. The power source is obviously very small and it must be something we can't recognize as such, or can't see because it's behind something and we can't get at it." Adams tells her.

"Have we been able to get anymore information from Jenny?" Shepard asks Kaidan.

"Well once I got the information about the item, she got upset again and I had to leave her alone. I will try it again in a little while, let her calm down for a bit." He answers.

"Maybe I should go talk to her." Shepard says impatiently.

"I don't think that would be a good idea Shepard." Kaidan says.

"What, I can be gentle." Shepard tells him.

"Shepard, do you hear what you're saying. You can be gentle... with a child...when you want information that you think she has. You said you're not good with children. Besides, let's face it, patients is not one of your virtues." Kaidan says.

"Are you telling me that I can't be gentle? Are you telling me that I would do something to jeopardize this mission?" Shepard asks with an evil lilt.

"I am saying you would do anything to complete the mission. I am saying you would not be above throwing the child against a wall and holding her there until she gave you what you wanted." Kaidan said looking her straight in the eye.

"I wouldn't throw a child against the wall." Shepard tells him. He just stares at her. "Well I wouldn't. I am mean, but I am not heartless."

Now Garrus Stares at her also.

"Okay now you guys are just being silly, I mean really, scare a child, hurt a child? What do you take me for?"

"Sole Survivor of Akuze." Kaidan says.

"Savior of the Citadel." Garrus says.

"First Human Spectre." Adams says.

"Mean." Kaidan adds.

"Unreasonable." Garrus says.

"Angry." Adams adds.

"Okay, okay I get it! You think I am going to torment the child. Well I won't! You three on the other hand had better watch it. The child may be off limits, but you gentleman are certainly not!" Shepard storms off. They wait until she goes through the door and there is a sigh of relief all around.

"Do you think we did enough to keep her away from Jenny?" Garrus asks.

"Well she didn't head right for med bay; I'd say we have a fifty-fifty shot." Kaidan says.

"I don't want to think of what our odds might be if she figures out we played her." Adams tells them.

"Yeah, somehow I think mine would be a lot less than yours would," Kaidan observes.

"Yes, I think it would suck to be you at that point." Garrus tells him.

"Well now, just so you know, it's totally worth it." Kaidan tells him with a smile on his face.

* * *

Kaidan finds Shepard in the bedroom laying on her bunk staring at the ceiling.

"Shepard, it's time for dinner."

"Not hungry."

"Well you promised you would eat with me at every meal, remember."

"I remember. Not happening!" Shepard snaps.

"Now come on, you need to eat."

"I will eat when I am damn good and ready!"

"No, you will come and eat now." Kaidan informs her.

"Kaidan Alenko, you are right now pushing your luck, this is the only warning you are going to get. I am no longer sick so I do not need a baby sitter."

"Okay what is wrong, it's about the children thing right?"

"Do you have chocolate?" she asks with a sneer on her face.

"No Shepard I do not have chocolate."

"Then we are not talking about that. You want to talk about that, you need to bring chocolate. No exceptions, no substitutions!"

"Alright, you'll get your chocolate. Okay, so then what is bothering you?"

"I am not a monster." Shepard says.

"No one said you were a monster."

"You did, you said I would take that little girl and put her up against a wall. Only a monster would do that. I am not a monster."

"Oh Shepard, I was using that as an example, I didn't really think you would be doing something like that. I just meant you needed to leave her alone and give her some time to heal."

"If you really think I am like that, why do you want to be with me?"

"Hey," he pulls her off the bed and into his arms. "I want to be with you, because I love you. I do not think that you are a monster. I do not think that you eat little children. I do think that you have a mean streak and I do think that you have a bad temper. Yes you can be very unreasonable at times and a little strange also. But yes, I still want to be with you."

"You do realize that it makes you a little strange also." Shepard observes.

"Well, do you have a problem with that?"

"My problems with you usually focus around you sensibilities and the way they interfere with my sex life. We could have more fun if you weren't so damn cautious."

"The way you set up things, we would get caught, often."

"So? It's more exciting that way."

"Shepard, our sex life is exciting enough, don't you think? I mean you're not bored of me are you?" Kaidan asks.

"No, not at all, really. I just don't think we get enough, and this ship is so damn crowded."

"We will be on the Antietam soon enough and I will be able to sneak into your cabin at night like I used to. I will do that whenever you want me to. It will all be fine, you'll see."

"Alright, we'll see." Shepard says.

Kaidan looked in her eyes and she didn't look convinced. "Shepard, you still want to be with me don't you?"

"Oh my god, yes! Why would you even think that?"

"Maybe because you're acting very strange right now. Maybe because you never tell me how you feel about me."

"I am with you Kaidan. I love you. There is no one else I would rather be with."

Kaidan captures her lips in his and shows her how much she means to him. Breaking the kiss, but still holding her in his arms he asks "so, can we go to dinner now?"

"Boy, you do have a one track mind."

* * *

"Okay now Jenny, we need to ask you some more questions, okay?" Liara asks her.

"Why?" Jenny asks

"Well, because we want to know what happened so that we can stop it from happening again." Liara explains.

"Well, I'll try, but I am scared." Jenny says.

"Jenny, you know Lieutenant Alenko and I are both biotics too, don't you." Liara asks.

"Really?" Jenny asks looking at Kaidan.

"Really, since I was your age too." Kaidan tells her.

"Did anyone try to take you?" Jenny asks.

"Not in the same way they tried to take you, no. But they sent me to a place where there were some mean people. But I came out okay. You can go to school with other kids like you if you want to." Kaidan tells her.

"No! I want to go live with my Aunt Betsy on Earth." Jenny says.

"Well then I guess we will have to get you to Earth then. Do you know your Aunt Betsy's last name ? Do you know where she lives on Earth? Kaidan asks her.

"I don't know her last name but she is my mom's sister. She lives in the mountains, really high and it snows a lot in the winter. Does that help you find her." Jenny asks.

"Well it might. What is your Mom's first name?" he asks.

"Margaret, her first name is Margaret, but everyone calls her Peg." Tears spring to her eyes and Liara gives her a hug.

"You're doing just fine Jenny." Liara tells her.

Kaidan makes a note on his omni tool. "Okay now I am going to ask you some questions about what happened on Scolankton, Jenny. I am going to make them as general as possible and I don't need too many details okay. I want you to answer as honestly as you can. It's okay to say you don't know an answer if you don't. We can stop whenever you want. Okay?" he asks looking at Dr. Chakwas to see if she is okay with this, she nods at him.

"Okay." Jenny says.

"Okay now you told us about the leashes. Did you hear them say anything about you or the other biotics." Kaidan asks.

"Well the two that carried out Codin said they were collecting him and then they laughed." Jenny shivers.

"Anything else you can remember, I don't mean the bad things okay I mean did you hear anything else?" Kaidan asks.

"Well they talked funny. It was like they didn't know how to make a sentence. Like the collecting thing, that's how he said it. 'Collecting him' for some reason, they found that funny, because the other ones coming into the room laughed too." Jenny told him.

"And you didn't hear anyone else say anything else?" Kaidan asks.

"No, that's when they started shooting and …" Jenny started crying and Liara held her close.

"Okay, Kaidan, that's enough. I don't think you're going to get anything else out of her. She doesn't know anymore." Dr. Chakwas says shooing him out.

"Thank you Jenny. I am sorry I upset you. If you remember anything else, you tell Liara or Dr. Chakwas okay and I will try and find your Aunt Betsy for you." Kaidan tells her.

"Okay" Jenny sniffs at him as he walks out the door.

* * *

"Did you find her Aunt Betsy, Shepard?" Kaidan asks putting her lunch in front of her and sitting down.

"Yes, Elizabeth Summerson. She lives in Boulder, Colorado. If we get Jenny to Earth, Alliance Command will have her Aunt Betsy there waiting for her." Shepard tells him picking up her utensils and taking a bite.

"Well I am going to bring Jenny and Liara lunch; she won't let Liara out of her sight. Liara has had to sleep in med bay and Jenny goes into a panic if she takes too long in the bathroom. She is gong to need some major crisis counseling." Dr. Chakwas says getting up from the table.

"Well I hope she will feel better once she is with her family again. At some point she is going to have to go for training for her biotics." Kaidan says.

"Well I am sure they will take her state of mind into consideration Kaidan." Dr. Chakwas advises as she leaves the room with the trays.

"Well I guess Liara will have to accompany me down to Houston Control." Shepard frowns.

"I can take her down there, Shepard." Kaidan says. "There is no reason for you to go with Liara.

"No, I have to go. Admiral Fossie wants to see me, Photo op probably." Shepard says.

"Admiral Fossie? Shepard you mean Admiral Foster?" Kaidan asks.

"Fossie, Foster, what's the difference?" Shepard grumbles.

"Okay if you're not going to even try, I am going to have to come with you." Kaidan tells her.

"I don't know Kaidan, I would love to see how Admiral Foster acts when the Savior of the Citadel calls him Fossie." Joker says. "I bet that would be great for an extranet site."

"No, Joker no extranet, that would not be good for Shepard or for us!" Kiadan says.

"I don't know, maybe they won't want to meet me so much if I don't call them by their right name." Shepard tells him.

"No! You are not going to embarrass us and yourself by calling Admiral Foster; Fossie!" Kiadan is getting more excited by the moment.

"I don't see why not. It's not my fault he doesn't know his own name." Shepard is teasing him now.

"Shepard, I know you will treat the Admiral with the utmost respect that his title deserves, but I am coming with you!" Kaidan snaps at her.

"No, you just want to come because you don't want me alone with Liara for the return trip." Shepard tells him.

"Oh, I have buddies in the Houston communication tower that can get me vids from the return shuttle trip." Joker tells Kaidan.

"Hey I wouldn't mind seeing those." Garrus says joining in on the teasing.

"There are not going to be any vids because she is not going without me." Kaidan says.

"I don't remember agreeing to that." Shepard says.

"You don't have to agree, because I am going." Kaidan tells her calmly.

"Yeah, I am pretty sure, as Commanding Officer, I have the last say. Don't I Joker?" Shepard says.

"Right Commander, last I heard, you were the only one on this ship that didn't have to take orders from anyone else on the ship." Joker answers.

"Hey if anyone is interested I can go, I have never been to earth." Garrus says.

"There, Garrus can come with me, how about that?" Shepard asks Kaidan.

"Yes, I don't mind meeting your Admiral Fossie." Garrus tells him.

"Foster! Shepard I don't think this is a good idea, maybe you should let Dr. Chakwas take Jenny. She can say that your sick or something." Kaidan says his face turning red.

"But Kaidan, I am not sick. And besides, we wouldn't want to disappoint Admiral Fossie at all. I mean really, if I bring Garrus and Liara with me he meets two other heroes, we can make his day. Ooh, maybe bring Wrex too! What do you think Garrus?" Shepard asks.

"I don't know Shepard, don't you think Wrex might scare any children that are around." Garrus said.

"No, on Prenadee the children actually liked Wrex. That would work I can take Garrus and Wrex, this way I won't be alone with Liara and Admiral Fossie gets four heroes for the price of one." Shepard says as if she has just discovered an elusive cure all.

Kaidan says through gritted teeth "it's Admiral Foster! I don't care how many heroes you bring, if you call him Admiral Fossie it will hurt your career. He does not have a sense of humor!"

"Neither do you, silly." Shepard says softly.

"Boy Kaidan, you should see your face!" Joker laughs.

"Yeah, Kaidan, you think I would be able to let Shepard embarrass herself?" Garrus says.

"Do you actually think that I would walk into Houston Command and not know the name of the Admiral I was going to meet with? What do you think I have done all these years before I met you? Remember Kaidan, Savior of the Citadel is new and is a big deal to the Council races. Akuze, well that was a big deal to the Alliance. I had to do a lot of meet and greets. I am actually quite good at it, if I do say so myself." Shepard tells him getting up and putting her dishes in the chute. "Don't worry I won't embarrass you Kaidan." She leans down to his ear and whispers "and you can come with me, to make sure." She kisses him on the cheek and walks out of the room.

"I can't believe you guys let her do that to me." Kaidan says.

"Hey, I can't help it if you're gullible, man." Joker tells him.

"How could you not know she was joking with you Kaidan, I thought you knew her." Garrus asks.

"Because, I can see her calling an Admiral by the wrong name, for just the reason that it would piss him off, that's why." Kaidan says.

"Yeah but if she hasn't met Admiral Foster, she has no reason to piss him off." Joker says.

"Yeah, except Admiral Foster is one of the Admirals that thinks her saving the Council was a mistake." Kaidan tells them. "In fact he has been very vocal about it."

"Does she know that?" Joker asks him.

"Oh, yes, I am very sure, now more then ever, that she knows." Kaidan advises them.

"So this would be one of those sucks to be you moments?" Garrus asks.

"Yes" Kaidan tells him. "Depending on her mood when we get to earth, this could very well be the mother of all 'sucks to be you' moments."

"Yeah, I am defiantly contacting Houston Tower and getting vid!" Joker says.

* * *

As they walk back to the Salice Kaidan feels he can finally relax. Jenny is back in the hands of her family. Shepard has been a model of a Alliance Lieutenant Commander and has made them all proud. There were several Admirals there from the surrounding states and from several of the space stations so there was no chance for Admiral Foster to have it out with her. Just twenty five more meters and they will be on the shuttle.

"Commander Shepard?" A male voice behind them calls.

Kaidan glances around and sees Admiral Foster bearing down on them. He groans and turns back to Shepard who is now turning and he just glimpses the look of wicked playfulness on her face before she schools her expression. "No!" Kaidan whispers to her, but she just gives him a small smile.

"Admiral." Shepard says as Kaidan and Shepard both Salute, Liara just bows her head a bit.

"At ease. Shepard, I wanted to talk to you about the Council." Admiral Foster says.

"Yes Admiral, what can I help you with?" Shepard asks.

"Well you saved the Citadel Council at the Battle of the Citadel."

"Actually Admiral, the Fifth Fleet saved the Council."

"I mean that you told Admiral Hackett to save the Council."

"No sir, I told my pilot to save the Destiny Ascension." Shepard tells him.

"Yes, to save the Council."

"No sir, to save a ship with ten thousand lives on board."

"But the Council was on board that ship Commander." The Admiral advises her.

"Yes sir, it was on board that ship."

"So you saved the Council and sacrificed human lives."

"Again sir, I didn't save anyone, I was in the Citadel Tower at the time." Shepard tells him.

"But you opened the relay and let the fleet through."

"Yes sir, that I did sir."

"Why did you do that?" Admiral Foster asks.

"They were trapped in space sir, I had to let them through or they wouldn't have been able to join the battle."

"So you stand by your decision?"

"Always Admiral, even if a decision is a wrong one, it is my decision and I will always own up to it." Shepard tells him.

"So you admit that the decision could have been wrong."

"I admit the decision could have been wrong, but I know that by saving ten thousand lives it was the right decision to make. You may not like that the Council was saved, but we now have a seat on that very Council and a place in history. I stand by my decision Admiral." Shepard tells him standing up tall.

"Well I may not agree that saving the Council was the right thing to do, I do agree that saving lives is. Thank you for speaking with me Commander. I hope you have a safe journey."

"Yes I am sure we shall." Shepard Salutes. "Until we meet again Admiral…" and as she turns around she says "Fossie,"

Kaidan freezes.

"Excuse me, Commander."

"The Commander said 'until we meet again Admiral Foster', Admiral." Kaidan cut in before Shepard could say anything.

"Yes, of course. Until we meet again Commander... Lieutenant." Kaidan salutes and the Admiral turns and leaves.

Kaidan waits until the Admiral is out of hearing range, listening to Shepard soft giggling. He turns on her "How could you do that!"

"It was quite easy really, the pompous ass is hard of hearing." She couldn't hold in her giggles anymore.

"Shepard, this is not funny. You don't know how hard of hearing he is, he could have heard you and we could both be up for insubordination." Kaidan says.

"Kaidan, I don't think they are going to court marshal the Savior of the Citadel for making a mistake on a name." She giggles.

"That is not the point, what you did was disrespectful."

"Questioning my loyalty to the human race, that was respectful?" Shepard was no longer laughing.

"No, it wasn't. He was wrong, but that doesn't make what you did right."

"No it doesn't, and you are right, it was disrespectful. But I am not sorry I did it. I am sick and tired of being questioned for a decision that I made in the middle of a battle that I almost died in. I am sick and tired that no one believes the Reapers are coming. They weren't with me on Ilos. They didn't hear Vigil tell us that the Reapers went after the leaders first. You were right there, you know it was the right decision, hell, you even told me to do it. I know what I choose was the right decision to make and I don't care who disagrees with me, even if they are an Admiral." They were in the shuttle now.

"I'm sorry that you're upset about this Shepard. But you can't just go pissing off Admrials. I still think what you did is wrong, but, well I understand why you did it." He gives her a hug over her shoulder he sees Liara turn away.

"I can't promise I won't do it again, Kaidan." Shepard tells him.

"I'll just have to hope that you're an Admiral yourself by then." He tells her.


	11. Unique?

As always, Mass Effect and all it's characters are owned by Bioware – and lets face it since that is a big part of my life, it makes sense that Bioware owns All!

As always thanks to Shenzi and Sesh from the KAST for putting up with me. A Special thanks to Star, because with out her, the smut would just be awful!

* * *

**Unique?**

Kaidan is watching Shepard sitting at her desk, she looks like she is laying out something in front of her and then comparing it to something next to it. It looked like cards maybe. Not so strange except she has been doing this for hours and this is Shepard. Shepard it not one to sit calmly for hours unless she is in dress blues and will be court marshaled if she moves. Even then it's hard to keep her in her seat. They almost had to sit on her at Ashley's funeral. So what had her so intent that she was sitting there for three hours.

As he watched she collected all the cards she had been comparing, shuffling them up and started the ritual again. Okay now he just had to know what she was doing. _I am at a good stopping point anyway __and it is almost lunch time_. Kaidan got up and walked the length of the cargo bay to get to her makeshift desk. So intent on what she was doing, she didn't even look up.

"Shepard, what are you doing?"

"Trying to win."

"Trying to win what?"

"Trying to win the game."

"What game are you trying to win, and I want a full answer this time. I really don't feel like a game of twenty questions."

"It's good to want things!" Shepard tells him with a smirk on her face never looking up from the cards.

Kadan grabs the cards out of her hands and is rewarded with a very angry looking Shepard.

"Now you have exactly one minute to give me back those cards intact or you will be sorry Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

"Tell me what you're doing."

"Forty five seconds."

"Shepard just tell me what game you're playing." He says smiling

"Thirty seconds." She is getting angrier.

"Come on Shepard."

"Fifteen seconds." She starts to walk towards him menacingly.

"Okay, okay here are the cards back." He holds them out to her and she grabs them and turns around and goes back to the desk.

"Thank you." She says to him.

"Thank you? Okay are you sick again?" Kaidan asks.

"No I don't think so." Shepard tells him still paying attention to the cards.

"Then why did you say 'thank you'?"

"Kaidan can't you see I am busy?"

"You're playing a game!" Kaidan tells her.

"Yes! Busy!"

"Shepard…" _I hate when she gets in these kinds of moods _"can you please tell me the name of the game."

"Certainly, you only had to ask." She has a wicked smile on her face and he knows she is being obstinate.

"Okay so can you tell me now?"

"I suppose. It's called Accordion."

"Accordion, and this is what kind of game." Kaidan asks hoping that she has finished playing games and will give him a straight answer.

"It's a card game that you play by yourself. It's a solitaire game."

"And who taught you the game."

"Dad, he collected decks of cards, I haven't had any since the destruction of the Normandy, I found these in a cargo box that was hidden behind a panel." Shepard tells him.

"What panel? Did you open a panel? Why were you opening a panel?" Kaidan asked her knowing her penchant for taking things apart but not putting them back together.

Shepard, still paying attention to the game said "the one outside the bathroom."

"Did you do anything inside that panel?"

"No, once I found the box with the cards I just left it open."

"Is that the only panel you opened?" Kaidan asked.

"No, first I opened the one in the bedroom, on the left by Garrus' bunk"

"Did you do anything else besides open it?" Kaidan asks.

She reaches down and brings up a small box with fuses, wires and a couple of screws and other items in it. She hands the box to Kaidan and goes back to her game.

Kaidan Groans. "Shepard, why did you do this?"

"The light was out on the wall, that panel was the closest to it."

"Didn't you think to tell me, Adams or Garrus, so we could fix it."

"Now where is the fun in that?" She asked him still playing her game.

"Shepard, we had told you time and again you can't just take things apart because you're bored."

She pointed to the box "Yes I can, it's putting them back together I have trouble with." She goes back to her cards.

"I mean we don't want you to take things apart." Kaidan says clearly frustrated.

"Again, its good to want things."

"Shepard, you have to stop taking things apart."

"My ship." Shepard uses the cards in her hand to gesture at her chest but doesn't take her eyes off the cards before her.

"Yes and you want it to keep flying right? You have a habit of taking things apart in such a way that it is almost impossible to put them back together easily. You have to stop taking things apart just for the fun of it. Tell you what; I will give you some things to take apart that won't cause damage to the ship."

"Yeah, I don't see the fun in that, there is no danger there."

"Okay well can you just agree not to do that again?" Kaidan asks her.

"I will think about it." She answers and he knows that is all the cooperation he is going to get.

"Okay now tell me about the game. Why does it interest you so much?"

"Cause it is really hard to win. I like it." She tells him.

"So how long will you play this game?"

"I like to play when ever I am not busy or bored. You just never knew because usually when you're in my cabin, I am busy, with you or with something or other. I have not won yet. I have gotten down to two piles once or twice though."

"Wait, you have never won the game and you still play it?"

"Yep, have to win it at least once."

"How long have you been playing this game?"

"Eighteen years."

"Eighteen years and you never gave up? Of course you never did, what am I thinking. So when you were driving us crazy because you were bored, all we had to do was give you a deck of cards?" Kaidan asked her.

"Well I like the treadmill too." She tells him as she puts down the last card and that pushes them all together and starts to shuffle them again.

"Well it's lunch time, let's go to lunch, we're late."

"That's your fault, you were asking too many questions."

"Leave the cards here." Kaidan tells her.

"I intend to, I don't want to get anything on them, they might stick together." She says getting up and walking towards the door.

Kaidan follows behind her with the box of debris from the panel she destroyed that he will now have to fix.

* * *

Shepard got out of the ship and walked down the walkway. Krump is another farm planet hot and sunny. It is recorded that two biotics live here. Shepard was glad she was wearing her armor with the cooling unit on it. At the bottom of the walkway she looks around. Wrex and Garrus come down the walkway behind her. She doesn't see anyone around. Liara comes down behind Wrex and Garrus.

"Well I guess we split up, see if we can find someone to talk to. Each of us take a compass point. If you see someone ask them where their biotics are." She tells them and she heads out to the north.

* * *

Randel is watching the ship that just landed. He notices the female that gets out and there is something familiar about her. She is obviously the leader as she issues orders to the others. She is heading in his general direction. _Who is she_, he is trying to place her. _It could be important_.

Jenkson is standing next to him. They have not been able to find the two biotics yet. The Collectors are offering a really good price for them, Their only rule; don't let anyone know that the Collectors are behind it.

Randel and Jenkson are part of a merc group that has done odd jobs for the collectors before. They pay well but they want unique people. Randel has no problem kidnapping people for them. That is what he is thinking about this woman, there is something unique about her. Then he sees the N7 on her armor and he knows. _Commander Shepard, Hero of the Citadel and first human Spectre. Bet the collectors will pay a pretty credit for her. _She is armed to the teeth, but she is alone. If they can circle around behind her and stay out of sight they might be able to get the drop on her.

* * *

Kaidan toggles the comm."Hey Shepard, what are you doing?"

"I am looking for some colonists, there doesn't seem to be any around here."

"What's your location from the ship?"

"I am about five clicks north of the ship, why."

"No reason, just wondering where you are. So who did you take with you?"

"No one, we each took a compass point." Shepard tells him.

"You think that is wise." Kaidan frowns.

"We haven't even found a colonist to talk to yet, Kaidan, I think it will be fine."

"I am not so sure, why don't you head back we will take the mako and drive around." Kaidan tells her.

"Kaidan you worry too muc…ahh…"

"Shepard… Shepard what's going on?" Kaidan only hears silence.

"Shepard… Joker get this ship in the air head due north, Shepard we're coming."

Kaidan runs and grabs his armor the ship is just lifting off as her runs back into the cockpit Still snapping his breastplate on.

"Ping her omni tool see if we can get a fix." Kaidan says.

"I tried there is interference, she is definitely in this direction, but I can't get the exact coordinates." Joker tells him.

"Garrus, Wrex , Liara I need you to head back to the north of the ships location, something has happened to Shepard, we are in the ship trying to find her." he says over the comm link and waits for each response.

Once all three have checked in he tells Joker " she said she was about five clicks from the ship to the north."

"We are coming up on that now. I also show a ship entering the atmosphere to the north of our location. Looks like it is heading for a very large clearing approximately five clicks from here."

"Head for there"

"Already moving." Joker assures him.

Kaidan sits down in the seat next to Joker and activates the scanner. The day is hot so the infrared is almost useless. He switches through different scan modes until he notices three blips on the screen heading due north.

"Joker, I want you to land right behind these bastards. I am going to get out and I want you to take down that ship, don't destroy it, just make it so it can't take off again." Kaidan tells him.

"Right, I'm on it Alenko."

"Tell Adams what is going on." Kaidan tells him.

"I got if covered man, just go."

Kaidan runs to the airlock and gets in. He feels the ship lower and he opens the airlock. As soon as the ship is low enough he jumps out.

"Joker, I'm away, go!" he says in his comm.

"Heading out." Joker tells him.

Kaidan runs in the direction he last saw the blips go and he sees ahead of him the two males carrying a burden. He sprints to catch up and he sees the burden is wearing Shepard's armor. It looks like she is in a stasis field. The ship is coming down in the sky getting closer to landing. Joker maneuvers the Salice so that he can get a clean shot but not have the ship land on top of Kaidan or the Commander. Kaidan readies a biotic throw and sees that the men both pull out pistols and aim them at Shepard's head. Without thinking twice using everything he has he sends two biotic throws at the same time and knocks both males in opposite directions away from Shepard who falls to the ground. Kaidan checks on the males one is unconscious, the other is dead from a broken neck. He then runs over to Shepard. She is caught in a stasis field.

Joker takes his shot and the other ship is damaged and should be forced to land. It doesn't land however, it tries to gain altitude. Then all of a sudden it explodes in a burst of flames as do the two men on the ground. Just poof and they are gone. The Stasis field disappears from around Shepard and Kaidan gathers her in his arms in relief.

"What took you so long?" Shepard asks.

"Couldn't find the keys." He tells her remembering an old vid she showed him once.

Then the pain hits him. He lets her go and grabs his head.

"Kaidan what's wrong?"

"Migraine, overtaxed." He can't stifle the grown the pain is so bad. He starts to vomit.

He feels Shepard behind him and supporting him. "Joker get the ship back here and have Chakwas ready with Kaidan's Migraine meds. Tell her he says he overtaxed his biotics."

"On our way Commander." Joker tells her.

"Commander." Garrus' voice still a bit distant.

"Over here!"

Kaidan is still retching but nothing is coming out anymore. Finally the retching subsides and she just keeps holding him as he keeps a hold of his head trying to will the pain away. He hears the ship engage landing thrusters.

"What happened?' Wrex's voice.

"He took out two mercs with two throws at the same time, he overtaxed his biotics. He has a migraine. We need to get him to the ship." Shepard tells him.

"Here Wrex you get his feet, I'll get his head" Garrus' voice.

Kaidan feels himself being lifted and he feels each step that is taken because they sends white hot pain shooting through his head. He can hear voices but now they are making no sense. He feels the stick of a needle and then surrenders to oblivion.

* * *

"What happen to that Ship Joker?" Shepard asks.

Joker is sitting at the table across from Shepard and Wrex. Liara is sitting next to Joker.

"I don't know commander. Alenko told me to disable it and I did, at least that is the shot I took. There was some reading, a burst of some kind and the next thing I knew, it blew up."

"Yeah the two guys that attacked me too. That is what is strange about it, that they exploded too."

"Not so strange." Garrus says walking into the galley/conference room.

"What did you find?" Shepard asks him.

"Looks like self destruct on both bodies, and there is nothing left." Garrus tells her.

"Damn it, they had one of those things. They hit me from behind though, I didn't see it."

"Did they say anything that we could use?" Wrex asks her.

"Not really, no. One of them did the most talking. He said that someone wanted to add me to their collection. That I was unique, and they could make a pretty credit off of me. They called the ship to come and get me, Then they made comments that they would go get the boitics once they had me tucked safely on the ship." Shepard shivers.

"Well he is sleeping, somewhat peacefully." Dr. Chakwas says as she enters the room. "I ran some tests and he doesn't seem like he damaged his amp or anything. I don't think he will be able to recreate the double throw anytime soon though. You must have been in real danger for him to attempt that."

"They were both going to shoot me in the head." Shepard says.

"Oh Shepard, no." Liara said with fear in her eyes.

"Yes, I do think that would be enough for him to react and attempt to do a double throw, which he obviously did." Dr. Chakwas tells her.

"You're sure he is okay?" Shepard asks.

"Yes I will keep him under for a while and allow his body to heal. You will have him back in a day or two, Commander." Dr. Chakwas said.

"Garrus, the guns, they both had guns to my head when Kiadan threw them. Did you find the guns?" Shepard asks.

"No, I did see two little burn spots so it looks like they self destructed too." Garrus tells her

"Shit, I want something for us to study. Well whoever is funding these guys they are really careful that no one ever finds out about them. They destroy everything including the ship if there is ever any chance they will get caught. No wonder no one knows about them." Shepard says.

"Yeah they do seem to have all the bases covered. It really would have been nice to have that stasis shooter though. Well maybe next time." Garrus says.

"Shepard, you said they wanted to add you to a collection?" Liara asks.

"Yes, well that's what one of them said anyway." Shepard replies.

"Well I can understand the biotics as human biotics are still rare, but why you? You're not a biotic." Liara says.

"Let me go over the conversation again. Let's see... he says they will want me for their collection... Savior of the Citadel, sole survivor, first Spectre, she is unique. That is why, the fool thought I was unique, he should only know that I just have an odd streak."

"An odd streak? You became a Spectre and Savior of the Citadel because of an 'odd' streak?" Joker asks her.

"Pretty much, yeah. At least I think so. Don't like to lose, have a bad temper with a wicked sense of humor and a bit childish at times." She looks around at the stunned faces. "What you think I didn't know what I was like. It's fun, I like fun."

"Like taking apart things for no reason" Garrus says.

"I have a reason, I like taking things apart and I am really good at it." Shepard says.

"Yeah, but you're not really good at putting them back together." Garrus points out.

"I know that, I am working on it." Shepard tells him.

"You're working on it, where are you working on it? Are you working on it now? What did you take apart?" Garrus sputters at her.

"Now you sound like Kaidan. I gave him what I took apart this morning. He said he would fix it, and no, he was not happy with me. Satisfied?" Shepard tells him.

"For now." Garrus says.

"Joker, did you get an ID on that vessel that blew up?" Shepard asks.

"No, sorry Shepard they had a block on the ID and once it blew up it was too late to crack it." Joker answers.

"Damn. Well at least we found out it isn't only biotics they are after but 'unique' things. Maybe they were wrong. Maybe the people they were working for wouldn't have paid credits for me." Shepard says.

"I think they would have Shepard." Liara tells her. "From a scientific stand point you accomplishments coupled with your ability to survive the beacon and decode the Prothean data makes you an extremely rare individual."

"Liara your bias." Shepard tells her.

"Than so are the rest of us Shepard. "Dr. Chakwas says. "Because I agree with her and I am sure everyone here does, and you know Kaidan does."

"I keep telling you, I am not unique, annoying maybe, but not unique."

"You keep telling yourself that Shepard. I wouldn't be here if you weren't unique." Wrex says.

"Okay, well thanks guys but this isn't getting us anywhere. Joker, you and Garrus go see if you can find the trail from that ship. Let's see if it leads us to anything useful. If not then we will go on to the next colony."

"Sounds like a plan, lets go Garrus." Joker gets up and grabs his crutches.

"Liara, can you check databases and see if there is anything about unique collections involving living beings. I think that it's as good a place as any to see if there is a pattern." Shepard asks.

"Certainly Shepard, I can do that for you." Liara says.

"Wrex can you update Adams on what is going on for me, I want to check on Kaidan?" Shepard tells him.

"Sure, no problem Shepard." Wrex answers.

"Okay, great, let's see if we can get anywhere else from here." She stands and follows the doctor out.

* * *

Kaidan opens the panel and groans. _My god she took everything out. I am going to have to rebuild every connection from scratch. I have got to start giving her tech lessons if she is going to keep doing this. At least on the Normandy she didn't play with the ship, just the electronics that weren't connected to it. That's how we lost the coffee pot._ He lets out a sigh.

"What's wrong, are you feeling okay?" Shepard asks with alarm in her voice.

Kaidan jumps "Shepard, I didn't hear you come in."

"I was already here, sitting right on your bunk."

"I didn't see you."

"You were kind of intent on the box in your hand at the time."

"Yeah, well I was scoping out the damage." Kaidan tells her.

"But you're feeling okay? I heard you sigh."

"I am fine, but now I have to rebuild this panel from scratch. Do you start out thinking of ways to make more work for me?"

"No." she looks hurt. "I don't try to make more work for you, it just ends up that way sometimes."

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay, I have armor right."

_Okay, what mood am I dealing with now? _"Yeah, but you're not wearing it now. Shepard are you okay?"

"That was really stupid what you did, two throws at once, you could have seriously hurt yourself." She snaps at him.

"I was only thinking of your safety."

"Yeah, well you have guns, use them!" She told him.

"Shepard you know I am not as proficient in guns as I am with my biotics."

"You have to practice! I don't want to lose you. You need to practice Kaidan!" There was a desperate edge to her voice.

"Hey, come here" he takes her into his arms. "I am okay. I had a headache that's all. I am fine now. It's not like I haven't had over load migraines before."

"It was not just a headache. You haven't vomited for a long time Kaidan, not since we first met. That was really a bad one."

"Yes it was, but it's over now. Look if it makes you happy I will practice more with my weapons okay." Kaidan asks her.

"Okay and you have to become expert in at least one."

"Shepard, when am I supposed to have the time for this?"

"Well you're just going to have to make the time, because you have to do it!" Shepard starts to sound desperate again.

He gives her a squeeze "Okay, look I will make a deal with you. If I didn't have to fix the stuff you insist on taking apart, I would have more time. So you stop taking things apart, on this ship at least, while there is only a few of us that can put them back together, and I will practice with my guns."

"And become expert in at least one?"

"And become expert in at least one."

Kaidan watched as Shepard concentrated, and he knew she was trying figure out a way to get him to practice and still take things apart.

"Come on Shepard, this is a good deal, you give me more time by behaving, and I will award you with better aim."

"Okay, you're right it is a good deal. I will not take anything else apart from the ship while we are still on the Salice, and you will become expert in at least one weapon that is not biotic."

"Deal" he lets her go. "Now let me get back to work, this is going to take me all day."

"Okay, I have to finish my report anyway." she tells him.

"Wait, you didn't finish your report yet? That is not like you."

"Yeah, well I was really worried, my boyfriend was ill."

He pulls her to him and gives her a kiss then turns her towards the door with a smack on her butt.

"He is fine now, so stop slacking."

"You know I will have to get you for that Kaidan." Shepard says rubbing her bottom with a grin on her face walking towards the door.

"As always Shepard, I look forward to it."

* * *

Kaidan sealed the panel. _F__inally, that took all morning and half the afternoon. Well if she will stop taking things apart it will be totally worth becoming a marksman of some kind._ He packs up the spare parts and tools and picks up the empty box at his feet.

"Alenko?" Adam's voice comes over the comm.

"Yes, Adams"

"There is a short in the docking clamps. I am having a problem with the FTL drive core overheat again. I need you to fix the docking clamps. The panel is in the cargo bay, by the cargo bay door, by the mako. It's numberd Alpha Bravo seven one three Delta."

"Alright, I am on my way." Kaidan grabs his things and heads to the cargo bay.

* * *

Having finished her reports Shepard sat at her makeshift desk watching Kaidan walk back and forth as he worked on a technical panel located slightly behind the mako. She was perfectly aware her behavior was juvenile and could result in serious trouble for both of them. It had been a while since they had been able to be together and Kaidan was in the perfect location for a little mischief and maybe some revenge. _As long as he doesn't have his hands free I can keep him back there..._ She stood up and walked slowly towards him, pondering how best to get him into an awkward position. If he could read her mind, she knew he would say, she was felling very naughty.

* * *

Kaidan was in the act of removing some very delicate parts in a service panel when he heard footsteps approaching. He ignored the sound hoping that whoever was behind him would take the hint and go away. He cursed softly as he concentrated on the task in front of him. Whoever had designed the docking clamps had run the wires through the back of the heavy duty control panel that controlled the cargo door. There were at least four large transistors in the front of the panel covering the offending wires. The footsteps stopped nearby and he glanced over to see who it was before removing the first transistor and laying it gently onto the floor. His visitor was Shepard and he could tell from the look on her face she was up to no good.

He stood up to face her. "Commander."

She grinned, "my, my… why so formal, Kaidan?"

"I have no time for one of your schemes right now. I have to fix a short and if I drop one of these transistors, we won't be able to open the cargo door and get the mako out anytime soon."

"So dropping one of those would be bad?"

"Yes, so now go away"

"Okay," she said turning away.

He went back to work, reaching to grab the second transistor. As he did so he realized that given its position, the one next to it would have to be removed at the same time. Sighing with annoyance he gave both transistors a slight tug. They came free with a pop and as he turned to place them on the ground he realized that Shepard was still standing behind him.

She pounced, pushing him behind the mako. He struggled to maintain his grip on the transistors, juggling the delicate pieces of equipment as the began to slip from his grasp. "Shepard, what the…"

Leaning forward, she kissed him, taking advantage of his slight gasp of surprise by sliding her tongue between his teeth. He fell against the side of the mako frantically clutching the transistors. The solid side of the vehicle provided a modicum of support that allowed him to regain both his balance and a better grip on the transistors freeing him to begin exploring Shepard's mouth in return. She didn't stop with a kiss however and before he quite realized what she was doing her hands had made their way under his shirt, sliding across his abdomen and just under the belt of his pants. His breath quickened at her touch. It felt good. More than that if felt great.

A noise from the opposite side of the hold reminded him that they weren't alone. _She's good. Oh yeah, she's very good, but I'd hate to end both our careers this way_. Bringing up a knee, he pushed at her sharply, making her fall back as he moved to create additional distance between them before putting the transistors down.

"What the hell are you doing, Shepard?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "Well if you don't know, maybe I'm not doing it right?"

He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pressure building in his lower body, keeping his voice low. "It's not exactly like we're alone down here. It's too dangerous and you know it!"

"True." She grinned and lifted and eyebrow at him. "Still, it's the danger that makes it so... sweet." She stepped forward, her hands stretched towards him.

This time he was ready for her, meeting her open mouth with his own. She pressed against him as he pulled her shirt up in order to better explore her body. The next few minutes were spent in mutual exploration. She had just begun to slide her hands into the waistband of his pants when the clang of a locker door falling shut made it once again very clear they were not alone. The sound shocked him and he stood still for a moment, trying to take a deep breath and tell her to stop but all that came out was a hiss. He bit down hard on his lip to keep from making noise as he grabbed at her hands. She snatched them away and came at him again, this time attempting to open his pants. He managed to stop her by the simple expedient of clutching her wrists. As he looked down at her, feeling slightly dazed and very aware of his increasing need to finish what they had started, the noises from across the hold became louder and more frequent, warning him of imminent danger. Part of him wanted to ignore the warning; to rip off her clothes and finish what she had started, here in the back of the mako if necessary while the other part of him— the part that always insisted on having a way out, reminded him that getting caught would not only be immediately embarrassing, it would most likely be the end of both their careers. _Still, she's right; the danger does make it better. _She pulled her wrists out of his grasp and stepped back.

She studied him for a moment than came towards him again, this time slowly drawing up her shirt. "What do you say, do I stay or do I go?"

She was beautiful, desirable and she took his breath away. He hesitated, struggling to respond intelligently but the only sound he could get out of his mouth was a groan. She laughed, stepping back to tuck in her shirt before leaning forward to whisper in his ear, "I told you, the danger makes it sweeter. I think you'll look back on this moment and realize that you enjoyed it. That you wanted _more_."

He stared at her mutely, trying to catch his breath and watching as she deliberately licked her lips, looking extremely pleased with herself. "We'll finish this Some other time, Kaidan"

He found his voice at last. "Some other time, Shepard?"

"Yes, its not like there is any privacy on this ship, as you so thoughtfully reminded me. Thank you for that, Kaidan. I think I will go take a nice... long... hot... shower."

Kaidan closes his eyes trying to keep his composure and praying to whatever god or goddess who was out there and can give him strength to deal with this woman when she is in this kind of a mood. He feels her breath on his face and he hears her whisper "too bad you won't be able to join me this time." He opens his eyes and she is right there with a satisfied look on her face. She licks her lips slowly again. He takes another deep breath.

"I'll s-see you at dinner." he says is voice breaking.

Still with the pleased smile on her face she turns and leaves.

* * *

****

A/N:

Rules for Accordion

The object of the game is to get all the cards in the deck into one stack. It works best on a large table.

Begin with the complete deck in your hand. Deal out one card at a time left to right. Each card is considered a pile. Any pile can be picked up and moved onto the pile to its left, or the pile third to its left, provided the top cards of both the piles match in either suit or rank. Then you can check to see if this gives you another move in one of the piles that are already on the board. You must move entire piles, never partial piles. When you move a pile in the middle of the row, leaving an empty space, just shift all the other piles to the left to fill it. The goal is to finish the game with all the cards in one pile.

There are no rules about when you must deal, or when you must move piles. When dealing, lay out as many new cards as you feel like working with. Then move them about until you're out of moves, or until you think you'd profit from dealing a few more new cards. If you like, you may lay out all 52 cards at once, then study the layout until you find the best possible solution.

Ariana plays the one card at a time version, checking if the card she is dealing gives her any moves. On the small table when she gets to the end she just puts the next card underneath and starts right to left row and continues in a snake like fashion left to right, right to left, left to right (hopefully you won't need more rows than that but it makes it possible to play in a smaller area).

This card game is very hard to win, but then that is where the fun lies.


	12. Getting Comfy

Bioware owns all! At all times. Never forget it!

From the KAST and the KAAS:

I want to say a big thank you to:

My support group Shenzi, Sesheta and Star, cause they are who get me through the day.

To Sirius, Ruby, OdS, Jane and Aslan (who just joined us)... my Posse in the search for an evil character we are trying to eliminate.

To Phoenix, cause she created said evil character (and I will prevail, I always do).

And to Alenko... who naively chose the wrong side (soon you will realize the error of you ways).

Well it looks like we finally are going to make it to the new ship. Looks like some new character have shown up, you will recognize them, but Shepard doesn't. Well let's see where we go from here.

* * *

**Getting Comfy**

Kaidan looks at the dark haired woman. She is pretty and sexy but that outfit she wears leaves nothing to the imagination. _Someone ought to tell her it's the mystery that lends to the excitement_. He doesn't recognize the logo on her chest, but if that is a uniform, they are doing it wrong. The man with her wore armor covered with leather. Impractical, but flashy is what comes to mind. He has the same logo on his chest as the female. These people dress to be noticed but are trying not to be noticed. They are obviously fools, Kaidan picked them up right away, well mostly because they were watching Shepard. Yes that woman had nothing on his Shepard, _I mean really, how can you not love a woman who you can drive to distraction just by kissing her neck_. He looks back at the female, she is talking to the salesman, but she was watching Shepard's every move.

"So do you think we should get the extra heat sink pack for the arms or for the thighs? I think the thighs are more practical." Shepard asks him.

"I think the thighs, they might go flying when I execute a biotic move on the arms." Kaidan answers.

"You haven't looked at them obviously because the arm ones are sealed." She tells him.

"Then definitely the thighs, who wants to waste time opening something up. That could be the difference between life and death."

"Okay so how long have you been staring at that sexy bitch."

"She has been watching you since we got here." Kaidan tells her, not surprised she knows where he is looking without looking at him.

"So you're only watching her because she is watching me? That tight outfit that shows off her ass didn't catch your attention."

"Shepard, there is only one ass for me and it's attached to your body, you know that." He told her but he was really enjoying that she was showing him a bit of jealousy, it was rare. "Besides, with that outfit I've already seen everything she has to offer, I'm not impressed."

"They have actually been following us since we left the ship." Shepard tells him.

"Wow, you're good, I didn't pick them up until we got to the transport." he still kept the air of bored indifference while studying the pair further. "Then I was watching your ass at the time so maybe you can forgive me."

"Slip ups like that can get you killed, though since we were on the Citadel at the time and there was only a four minute difference from the time I picked them up to the time you did, maybe I will forgive you. More than likely you'll have to be tortured again." She was filling out the order data pad to have the upgrades sent to the SSV Antietam, since they were here to join the ship.

Anyone that was watching them would never realize they were having a running conversation. To an observer it would look like Shepard was shopping and Kaidan was bored waiting for her to finish. That was the idea really.

"Yes I know 'and forever I will torture you' isn't that the line from that cheesy old vid you like to watch?" Kaidan asks her.

"Actually the line is 'and forever will I torture you' and it is not cheesy, and if you don't like it you don't have to watch it." Shepard says.

"Well it's the idea that you like to watch the same vids over and over again. Old ones too, not the newer stuff I don't know, don't you want diversity?"

"I like familiarity, besides I love to watch my favorite parts over and over again. The old ones have better stories. New stuff is hollow, without depth or form. It makes me happy to watch them again and again. Like I said, if you don't want to watch you don't have to. I can always find someone else to watch them with, or I will watch them alone. You should be glad that I like the same things over and over again, Kaidan. It means I won't get bored. You know how I can be when I am bored."

"Yes I don't want you to get bored, you drive the crew crazy when you're bored. When you had that damn mold thing you were driving everyone crazy. You know, I noticed that you scheming didn't start until after Vimire, but I always thought that it was because you were getting closer to me, I never dreamed it was because of the mold."

"Well it might have been a bit of both. The constant annoying smell made it hard for me to concentrate. On the other hand, thinking of ways to get you in compromising situations that is always fun." Shepard tells him.

"Yeah well I hope that you give up that particular pastime."

"Why would I give it up? Oh, and don't think I didn't notice that you didn't say you wanted to watch the vids with me, I will find someone else to watch them with. I will make sure that they are cute and have a really tight butt, and I will spend a lot of time with them."

"Hey I watch them every time with you, and don't think I didn't notice that you described me. Yes of course I will watch your vids with you, even if it is just to spend time with you."

They are coming over, they what to know what we are talking about. They are better then I gave them credit for."

"Yes I noticed." Kaidan tells her and then they stay quiet.

The two came over to the weapons' kiosk that Shepard and Kaidan were at. Kaidan makes a show of checking out the woman so that they will think it is the first time he has seen her. He lingers on her assets and gives the male a way to go buddy smile, knowing it will lower their opinion of him. If they know Shepard, then they know him, but he is hoping since their interest was in Shepard they won't know as much about him.

"If you're finished gawking Lieutenant, maybe we can get a move on so that I can finish my shopping." Shepard says to him sharply and heads off.

"Yes Commander!" Kaidan jumps to attention and follows behind her.

When they are far enough from the two subjects Shepard says "now let's see if they follow us knowing that I have spotted her."

"You mean them."

"No, her, she is obviously in charge."

"Oh why do you say that?"

"Because he reacts to her and not the other way around. She makes a move first and then he follows it. Like us but I'd like to think that we are better at hiding it when we have to." It would stil look to an outsider like they are ignoring each other however he is looking more alert as he had just gotten 'disciplined'.

Shepard goes over to another kiosk and starts talking about armor upgrades. This time Kaidan stands behind her with his arms to his side covering her rear showing that he is being alert and attentive. The female saunters by obviously overdoing it to draw his attention and he seems to oblige her but he still notices the male subject slip closer and enter the shopping area of the kiosk. He is positive that Shepard is quite aware of what is going on around her.

"Since you're the in field medic do you think it would be worth it to get med gel upgrades for the armor lieutenant?" Shepard asks.

Kaidan suspects she is using this question as an excuse to turn around, also knowing that records show that he is the unit field medic. He acts like he is loath to remove his eyes from the female and turns to look at the Commander Just as she bangs on his armor.

"Hey, second warning lieutenant; gawk on your own time, now pay attention." She tells him.

Kaidan is trying very hard not to laugh, she is trying so hard to discredit him so they will dismiss him.

"Yes, Commander, understood Ma'am."

"Well then answer my question."

"Question Ma'am?"

He can see the twinkle in her eye, she is having trouble trying not to laugh too. "Do you think the unit could benefit from the med gel upgrades made for the armor?"

"Uh, well Commander, I think that would be a good idea."

"You think it would be a good Idea, or you know it would be a good idea lieutenant?" she asks icily.

"Uh… Commander, extra med gel is always a good idea, I mean you never know when you're going to need it."

"If you keep it up you're going to need med gel." She grumbles, and it is all that Kaidan can do to not bust out laughing. They had come to buy the upgrades anyway so the whole conversation was moot.

Shepard takes the data pad from the clerk and starts filling out the information for the delivery. The female makes another pass this time making eyes at Kaidan to try and see if she can get him to shirk his duty again. He tries to figure out what her game is. They are possibly trying to get the Commander alone, and they think that if they get her angry enough she will send him back to the ship. Speculation of course but he is sure he isn't far off from the mark. He doesn't do more then follow her bit before jumping back to alertness as if he realizes he is pushing his luck. He notices the disappointment on the female's face out of the corner of his eye. Yes they want the Commander alone, the question is for what.

Shepard finishes the sale receiving her credit chit back from the sales clerk and stalks off heading back to the ship with Kaidan close behind her. He notices in the reflection from one of the Galaxy News terminals that the female and male are following again.

"We have a shadow again." Kaidan says in a low voice.

"Yes I noticed." She talks in her comm. "Garrus we have a tail, I need you to come out and follow them. They are wearing some kind of uniform, human female light skinned, brown hair, white one piece outfit skin tight, black and gold trim with circular shaped logo on the left side of the chest and black high heeled boots. The second subject dark skinned male, short black hair, wearing armor covered in black leather with gold and white trim and the same circlular logo on chest left side."

"Got it Shepard, five minutes." Kaidan hears Garrus answer.

They slow down so Garrus has the time to catch up with them. Shepard stops at a food vender and purchases some stores for the new ship. They needed them anyway. The man and woman are being careful to try and stay hidden, because obviously they have been seen twice, if Shepard sees them again they realize that she would become suspicious. They are not very good at hiding and it's too late, Shepard has already taken note of them.

Kaidan, having been admonished twice is making a show of scanning the area. Of course it is more efficient to scan the area without it being noticed, as he normally would be doing, but now it is important to be noticed. He catches Garrus closing in behind the two subjects and Kaidan gives him the sign he has the right ones.

"Garrus has them, what now?" Kaidan asks her.

"We go back to the Solice and see if we can figure out who they are and what they want of course.

* * *

Shepard, Garras and Kaidan are sitting around the mess table discussing the shadows.

"They are staying at one of the new hotels. Amanda Grayston and Jason Trainer, they have separate rooms. They checked in the same day we arrived. According to C-Sec records they came on a merchant ship from the Eta Hawking cluster. That is all the info they had. Records check shows they are from an earth colony in the area, but that is all he records show." Garrus tells them.

"I checked with Alliance intel and there is no record of an Amanda Grayston or a Jason Trainer matching their description in any of the colony records on any of the planets in the Eta Hawking Cluster. " Kaidan says.

"Matching their description?" Shepard asks him.

"Yes According to the records there is a Jason Trainer, but he is two years of age. Amanda Grayston is a precocious nine year old. Yeah they used real people and just modified the records, they are good. They also were able to somehow modify their implant identifications to match." Kaidan says.

"So they are being very careful not to be known. So why than, would they dress so high price merc, and then follow us and try not to be seen? I mean really it isn't like they dressed to tail us." Shepard says.

"It wasn't us it was you." Kaidan tells her.

"Why do you think it was me that they were after?" She asks.

"Because when you were looking at the med gel upgrades she tried to get me to pay attention to her again, after witnessing the act you put on chastising me she went out of her way to entice me to pay attention to her again. I think they were trying to get you to send me back to the ship so they can get you alone." Kaidan tells her.

"What made you think it was an act marine, you were shirking your duty. Oh, never mind I can't even keep a straight face now." She starts laughing. "Yeah it was really hard not to laugh, when we had no problems keeping tabs on them."

"Yeah well I think it means you have to have two of us with you with a third covering for the tail, Shepard. We don't know what they want and if they get desperate, well let's just say it's better to be safe." Garrus says.

"This is ridiculous, I have a ship to move in to and I have things to do. I can't be worried about these two people. I don't need to two person back up on the Citadel that is just too much." Shepard says.

"Complain all you want, you're not running around the Citadel alone." Kaidan tells her.

"Oh yeah, and who is going to stop me?" she says with acid in her voice.

"I will go to Admiral Hackett and I will present our findings and make him order you to have an escort, or better yet assign you to barracks until we find out what these people want. He wouldn't want the Savior of the Citadel to be kidnapped or something. Especially not on the Citadel, that would be bad publicity." Kaidan tells her.

"You wouldn't dare do that Lieutenant!" She snaps at him.

"You know damn well that I will do that and more to protect you. if you don't agree to the minor changes that Gurras has suggested to secure your safety I will have to go to Hackett. I am not taking a chance with your life Shepard, and neither are you." Kaidan tells her.

"You think I can't protect myself? Who do you think you're dealing with here?" Shepard yells with fire in her eyes.

"I am dealing with one of the most stubborn woman in the universe, but I know that she will follow orders so I think I will just go and contact Admiral Hackett right now!" Kaidan says standing up.

"You do and I will shoot you where you stand, Alenko!" Shepard says going for her pistol, which of course is in her locker.

"Is this what they call a lover's quarrel? I don't think I have ever seen one before." Gurras asks watching the retreating backs of the lovers.

Kaidan stops just short of the door without warning and Shepard walks right into his back.

"Watch where you're going!" Shepard snaps at him.

"Stop, just stop. Gurras is right, you're just fighting me on this cause it's me." Kaidan says."

"No that's not it!" Shepard yells.

"Yes it is. You're afraid that I am trying to take care of you. It doesn't mean you can't take care of yourself. You know that. Garrus and I are trying to help you protect _yourself_ not protect you_ ourselves_."

"Shepard, it isn't a bad thing to need help." Garrus tells her.

"Yes it is, it's a weakness." Shepard tells them.

Kaidan takes her hands. "No Shepard, it is not a weakness, it's just a precaution."

Shepard frowned at him. "A precaution?"

"Yes a precaution. You can protect yourself, and we are not saying you can't, but we are saying that we want to be with you as a precaution against what could happen. For example what if they had those stasis fields." Kaidan tells her

"You think they have those?" Shepard asks excitedly.

"No, I am just saying what if they had those, you know there is nothing you can do with those. They could probably take out all three of us at one time anyway, but if there is a fourth following maybe they can help us. Like I said, I don't think that is what is going on, it's just the worse case seniero." Kaidan says.

"Besides Shepard, it might get us more information on them by observing what they do and when they do it. Wrex is out there now waiting to see what they will do next. So far one of them is at the hotel and the other is watching the ship." Gurras tells her.

"Well I want to know who they are. Isn't there some way to find out." Shepard wants to know.

"Well maybe when Tali arrives tomorrow she can dig through the databases and see when the Identifications were made and maybe we can get an idea who created them." Kaidan says.

"Can't you do that?" Shepard asks.

"You know that Tali is better at weeding out things then Garrus or I. We are going to be switching ships tomorrow and we are all going to be busy, so it's a good idea to leave it to her, since her stuff is already on the ship." Kaidan tells her.

"Well I guess that is alright. After lunch I have to make sure that all the reports are up to date and make sure I read through the crew reports also. I have to see about the new crewmembers too. Only six, and we lost over twenty, they new ship is more efficient I guess. I will be curious to see what changes were made, since they never can leave well enough alone." Shepard says.

"I'm going to go over to the Antietam now and help Adams run some checks in engineering. This way if you need to go out later or tomorrow I will be able to go." Kaidan tells her.

"But what about lunch, aren't you going to eat with me, you never let me skip it?" she asks him.

"Well your eating normal now so I don't have to make you eat anymore. That was the only reason we had to eat together, you weren't eating enough." Kaidan says, then realized he has said too much and hopes that she won't pick up on it.

No such luck. "Wait, you mean you made me think that you had ulterior motives, just to get me to eat?" Shepard asks in a sharp voice.

"Well now Shepard, you weren't eating enough and you know it. I had to think of something to get you to eat, and if I hadn't done that you might still be slowly starving to death." Kaidan said.

"So you tricked me. You pretended you were up to something, and you weren't." Shepard says icily.

"Shepard you know it was for your own good, if I hadn't, I never would have noticed the little signs that proved you were having a medical problem." Kaidan tries to explain.

"You tricked me." She snaps.

"Uh, yeah." Kaidan says sheepishly.

"You got caught, and it was your own fault. Yeah, not very smart. You know Kaidan... you shouldn't trick me... the consequences, they are going to be... bad." Shepard said with a wicked lilt in her voice.

"But Shepard, in a way he did save your life, so maybe you could let him have a pass on this one." Garrus says.

"On this one Garrus? What else is he tricking me on? Are you involved too?" Shepard turns on Garrus and asks.

Garrus turns to Kaidan "sorry man, you're on your own." he tells him.

"Shepard I am not trying to trick you on anything else, that isn't what Garrus meant." He could see the anger in her eyes and he watched as her mind started planning ways to get even. "You are blowing this all out of proportion. I mean really, what is the big deal, I just wanted you healthy?" Kaidan asks.

"You tricked me. You got caught. You will pay." and with that said Shepard turned around and walks out.

"Oh man, she is going to be planning something totally embarrassing." Kaidan groans.

"Kaidan, did you ever think that there are women out there that don't live to torture their boyfriends?" Garrus asks.

"Yeah but those women are not Shepard. The times when she isn't torturing me she makes it totally worth it. Besides, maybe she will get tired of it." Kaidan says.

"Kaidan, this is Shepard, do you really think that she will get tired of it. This is the woman that diverts the ship light years off course just because there might be a thresher maw on some little insignificant out of the way planet, so she can wreak revenge on the creature. What do you really think your chances are that she will get tired of it and stop?" Garrus asks.

"At some point I will really ask her to stop, and she will just stop." Kaidan tells him.

"Why would she stop something she so obviously enjoys." Garrus asks.

"Because she loves me." Kaidan says and he turns and leaves.

* * *

Shepard walks into her cabin and wrinkles her nose. It has an odd smell. She is sensitive to smells ever since that thing was in her nose. Well it is a new ship, she guess strange smells went with that. Too bad she couldn't open a window.

She went to her practically empty closet and looked inside. ACUs, her toiletries, underwear, tee shirts and shorts. Yeah, she really had to get to earth and get some clothing. She had nothing to wear really. Maybe she should go to the family storage area and pull out some of her old things. Maybe one or two of her dresses. Kaidan had never seen her in a dress before. Might be interesting to see his reaction when he found out she could actually look like a lady when she wanted to. She opened the second closet next door to hers that she told Kaidan to put some of his stuff in and looked to see what he had put in there. He had a couple of ACUs, some toiletries, underwear, tee shirts and sweat pants. Neither one of them thought to buy anything else since the explosion of the Normandy. Well I guess we should requisition dress uniforms for the crew in case we need them. We might be required to do honor guard duty or something equally annoying, wouldn't want it to be a problem. Knowing Kaidan he has probably ordered his already.

She went over to the bed and opened the box that was on top of it. She had ordered cotton sheets and bedding because she preferred it to the synthetic the Alliance used. She had picked a deep burgundy with a silver gray trim, just because she enjoyed the contrast. She brought six sets. _Kaidan was right I do like the same things. I'm not really into variety. Maybe that isn't such a good thing_. She pulled off the Alliance standard bedding and put it in the cleaning chute and put her new bedding in place. The burgundy did go well with the gray blue decor of the walls, and brought some color to the room. She pulled out the rest of the bedding and put it in one of the cabinets. Each one had a tag with her name on it so it would come back to her once they were cleaned.

She went back to the box on the bed and pulled out the smaller box inside. She opened the box and there were two satin robes. Both were burgundy and gray to match the bedding. Hers was floor length and his was approximately knee length maybe a bit shorter. There was a dragon embroidered on the back of each one. Her dragon was silver, his was gold. She didn't know why she had picked them out. Plain was what she had been thinking, but once she saw the dragons, she was sold. She placed each in the appropriate closet. She broke down both boxes and dropped them in the recycle chute.

She went over to the table and opened the box her mother had sent her. It contained some holos of the family that she took out and placed on the table next to the bed, Mom and Dad watching over her. She always had a picture of them with her, and she had missed it on the Salice and had to do with two separate pictures that she was able to download from Alliance Command from the files. She went back to the box to see what else her mom had sent. There were some cotton underpants, her favorites of course, her ever practical mother. A few tee shirts, the kind she liked to sleep in. Some of the cocoa butter skin cream to avoid the dryness her skin could get on the ship. Shampoo and conditioner and soap in her favorite scent, odorless. Then in the bottom of the box was a velvet case. She knew what it was without opening it and she shook her head. Now W_hy did she do that? She knows that I hate them. It's probably fucking all of them! _She threw the case on the small desk as Kaidan came in the room.

"What's that?" He asks pointing to the case.

"Nothing, just something my mother sent she thought I would want replaced."

"It looks kind of important."

"To some it might be, but I think it's not." She advises him.

"Well now you have me curious." he says reaching over for it.

"Oh Kaidan, just leave it." she can't hide the stress in her voice.

"What is it Ari." he stops reaching for it and looks at her.

"I told you, it isn't really important. She could have just kept them. I don't see what the big deal is really. I don't want them here. They just cause problems and jealousy." She has trouble pushing the words out.

He kept his eyes on her as he reaches for the case. She doesn't try and stop him but keeps her eyes on his until he finishes opening the case and has to break eye contact to look down at what he has opened. She closes her eyes so she doesn't have to see them.

"Ari, these are your metals, all of them."

"I know, could you just close it please." She asks him.

"But why."

"Kaidan, please just close it, maybe shove it in the back of the closet, please, better yet in the back of your closet." She tells him.

She hears him walk away and then hears the closet door open and close. Only then does she open her eyes again. He is standing next to her now.

"Okay the big bad metals are away, now tell me why."

"A girl's got to have her secrets." She tells him and starts to turn away.

He grabs her arm and swings her around, she crashes into his chest and he quickly puts his arms around her holding her tight against him.

"Not from me, so come on, you can tell me." He tells her putting his lips to her neck and kisses her.

A shiver runs down her body at the contact of his lips and it relaxes her a bit. _Tell him, what is the big deal? It isn't a big deal_. He kisses her neck again sending another shiver down her body. She reaches her hand behind his back and holds on.

"They are just bad memories that's all." She tells him quietly.

"Okay, now how can metals..." he pauses and kisses her neck again, she realizes he is trying to keep her calm. She closes her eyes because he isn't going to stop until she tells him all he wants to know. She hates that it bothers her, and the last thing she wants to do is talk about it. But if she was going to talk about it, he is the one she would talk about it with. She starts grinding her teeth.

"How can metals be bad memories." Kaidan continues. "They are just metals."

She doesn't answer him. She just holds on and grinds her teeth, trying not to think of the dead people each of her metals represent. _Well most of them anyway. Maybe all, I'm not sure. I'm certainly not going to be checking that case to find out any time soon_. Just then Kaidan gives a little nibble on her neck sending a wave of pleasure down her body. She feels his breath against her skin.

"Ari, please tell me what you're thinking, I really want to know." he says squeezing her a little tighter.

_Sometimes his patience is really annoying. I don't suppose he will give up anytime soon...oh wow._ Kaidan nibbles on her neck a bit more. She tries to push him away, but he isn't letting her put her hands between them and she can't get any leverage. He grips her tighter.

"It's okay, I'm here with you, just tell me." he says softly.

"Death!" she chokes out. "Each of the … metals, they represent death." she feels the tears spring to her eyes and she hates it. She tries to pull away again, but he just holds on and starts to rock with her in his arms. He doesn't talk while she struggles with him and only speaks when she stops struggling and relaxes against him. She feels the tears rolling down her cheeks as his words reach her ears.

"Ari, those metals were given to you because of you deeds and actions, not to commemorate the death of anyone."

"You don't see the blood on them, I do. You don't understand." She said quietly.

"I understand that you look at things differently then I do, and I understand that for some reason you have decided to look at the metals this way. I accept what your feelings are and I will keep them in the back of my locker for now. It was really stressful for you to tell me, I know. We will just leave things the way they are for now. Thank you for sharing with me. It helps me to know you better. I need that Ari." He tells her giving her another kiss on her neck.

"I know you do Kaidan." She says letting him hold her for a bit more before trying to pull away again.

He lets her pull away from him and she sits down in the chair next to her feeling completely drained and closes her eyes. _I hate this emotional shit. Why does he always need to know the bad things? Why isn't he just happy with the good things?_ She feels his fingers on her face wiping the tears away. She feels him kneel in front of her and lay his head in her lap and put his arms around her. She lifts her hand and pats his head. She feels the stress headache starting and tries to relax as the throbbing starts behind her eyes. She lifts her hand and presses her palm to her head. She feels Kaidan's head shift in her lap and then vacate it.

"What's the matter?" he asks

"Headache, the kind I always get when you make me go through the hard stuff. It will go away in a bit." she tells him.

She feels him get up and hears him head towards the bathroom. She hears him rummage a bit then the water runs. She hears him go over to the bed. Then he comes back over to her. He lifts her up and takes her over to the bed and lays her down. He places a cool compress on her head and then starts to open her boots and removes them. He sits on the bed next to her.

"Do you want an analgesic?" He asks.

"Yes."

He leans over to the table and then lifts her hand and puts a glass of water in it. He removes the compress and hands her a pill. She takes the pill and lays down handing him the water. He puts the compress back on her head.

"I'm sorry Ari, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Yes, you did. I knew you wouldn't stop until I told you. It's my fault for holding out."

"I don't understand why it is so hard for you to share things with me."

"Kaidan, It isn't you. I don't even want to share them with myself."

"Well we will just have to take these things one at a time, okay." He asks.

"Oh my lord, if you're going to keep doing this I better get a lot more analgesic." She tells him.

He laughs and kisses her cheek. "I'll make sure we have plenty on hand. I am going to go back to work, you rest okay. I'll check in on you later or Chakwas will."

"I don't think you need to bother Doc with this."

"No we don't, but if I can't make it back early, I will make sure she knows it's a friendly check in not a doctor one, okay?"

"Yeah. Hey next time you want to have one of these deep conversations, I think I am going to need some candy or something as a reward." Shepard tells him.

"I'll give you a reward right now." She feels his lips on hers and she parts them to receive his deep emotional kiss.

"There, I will see you later." She feels him get up and hears him walk towards the door.

"I don't know. I think I want the candy too." She hears him laugh as he walks through the door.

* * *

Shepard goes down to engineering. She walks in and sees exactly who she is looking for and rushes over to her.

"Tali, you're back. I really missed you!" She says.

"Shepard, it is good to see you. I am glad to be back, although I don't think my father was that happy that I wanted to leave the fleet again." Tali gives her a hug.

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth about the Reapers and that we had to help you because you helped us."

"You don't have to be here unless you want to be Tali, you're under no obligation to me really." Shepard tells her.

"I know Shepard, but it is important. We have to defeat the Reapers."

"Yes we do. I just have no idea how we are going to do that yet."

"Don't worry Shepard, you'll figure it out, you always do."

"Yes it's easy to say that, well I guess we will see."

"Well we have some things to workout with the engines, so I will see you at dinner."

"Yes it will be nice to have everyone back. See you later Tali."

Shepard left engineering and walked up to the CIC. She looked around, really the SSV Antietam looked just like the SSV Normandy. She felt comfortable enough, well except for the new ship smell, but she guessed it wouldn't last long. She went up to the cockpit and there was Joker fiddling around with his console.

"Joker what are you doing." Shepard asks.

"Working Commander." Joker says.

"Well are you busy?"

"Does it look like I am busy?"

"Well truthfully, no it doesn't." Shepard says.

"Commander, what do you want."

"Well I have an idea on how to get back at Alenko for tricking me."

"When did you find out he was tricking you, and for the record I knew nothing about it." Joker tells her.

"The other day, and yes you did, but torturing you wouldn't be as much fun since you break so easily. Of course that doesn't mean I won't figure out a way to torture you where I don't have to cause you any bodily harm. But if you help me I promise I will stop trying to think of ways to torture you. Deal?"

"Deal, Commander. What do I have to do?"

* * *

Kaidan walked into the mess and everyone was there already except Liara. He looked over at Shepard and she hadn't taken any dinner. _Great, we are starting this again. _He went over to pick up his dinner and hers. He walked over to her and put her dinner in front of her and then sat down to eat his.

"I didn't ask for this." Shepard tells him.

"No, but you need to eat dinner." Kaidan tells her as he starts to eat his dinner.

"What? Nothing up your sleeve to get me to eat it huh, so then I guess I don't have to." She says.

Kaidan realizes what she has planned and a bolt of fear shoots through his body for a second, but he quells it, because she will take advantage of it. He takes a deep breath.

"Shepard I am sorry, so you can eat now." Kaidan tells her.

"You are not, but you will be. I will eat when I am damn good and ready!" she says as she goes to get up from the table.

"You will sit right back down there and start eating right now!" Both Kaidan and Shepard turn to look at Dr. Chakwas. "Your body was weakened by your not eating before, you are not doing that to yourself again and especially not to wreak revenge on Kaidan just because he tried to take care of you, so eat! I would not be above force feeding you this time Shepard."

Kaidan smiles at the look on Shepard's face but schools his expression to blankness as she whorls quickly to look at him. From the look on her face, he wasn't quick enough.

Trying to ease the tension in the room Joker says "so did we find anything more out about that pair that was following Shepard the other day?"

"Well I have watched them for a couple of days now. Other than watch the Antietam they haven't done anything else. Once when Shepard came out of the ship to check on some cargo they moved closer, but we had crew all over the docks so they never got that close. It's obvious that they are trying to get to her, but not what their intentions are." Wrex says as Shepard sits back down.

"I watched them during the evening hours. They take turns getting rest but someone is always watching the ship. Liara is watching them now, I will relieve her." Garrus tells her.

"Do they know that they are being watched?" Shepard asks, finally starting to eat her food.

"Well I have Liara pretending to do inventory. There are several crew members on the dock strategically placed. We do have two guards by the entrance, one inside the airlock and one outside. I don't think they suspect that Liara is watching them, but her surveillance skills have improved since Kaidan, Wrex and I have been working with her."

_Yeah and if it keeps her away from Shepard I would teach her anything_. Kaidan watches as Shepard keeps eating, at least she isn't keeping her stupid resolve not to eat just to seek revenge on him.

"Have we been able to find anything else out about who they really are?" Shepard asks.

"Well I have been working on the engines so I haven't had a chance to really get into the computer files yet. We are trying to make adjustments to the engines so they will be stronger then the ones on the Normandy. Garrus is also trying to find some weapons upgrades. I am checking with the fleet to see if they have been able to find anything out about shield upgrades." Tali tells her.

"Yes, along those lines the Alliance is working on shield upgrades and I have it under pretty good authority that the Antietam will be the test ship for the new shields as soon as they are ready for field tests. We need better shields." Kaidan tells her.

"I am trying to tweak the controls so that the ship response time to commands is minimal or next to no time. I don't want to be caught unawares again. Really would like some invisibility cloak of some kind that would block a visual search for the Antietam. Too bad there is no such thing." Joker says.

"Well I spoke with my dad recently and he made some joke about how good it would be if we could learn to bend light waves around ships so they could hide from visual inspection, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the works somewhere. He sometimes comments on reports he has read without realizing it. Well at least to me and mom." Shepard says.

"That would be sweet!" Joker tells her.

"Yeah well I doubt it is anywhere past the 'hey look at this' stage, or he wouldn't have mentioned it, so it isn't going to do us any good."

"Damn, well a guy can hope." Joker says.

"When does the new navigator come on board?" Wrex asks.

"Tomorrow, 1st Lieutenant Oisin Unwin, she is considered one of the best. Her records look clear, don't know what her personallity will be or how she will fit in, but I hope she will. We have several new crew mates but not as many as we lost because thos ship is more efficient I guess. Or maybe because there were a lot of casualties from the battle. It could also be because they are going to be building up the fleet. For whatever reason, we will be running short crew for a while." Shepard says.

"Yeah it will take a while for them to fit in and for us to scope them out for trouble makers." Kaidan tells them _and it means I am back to sneaking around and sleeping in my pod again if I want any Shepard time._

"Well at least the ground teams will be the same. Maybe while we are here we should take the time to train up and see if there are any new techniques we can incorporate into our routine. It will keep us on our toes. I can check with C-Sec and get the up to date info on any new weapons we might come up against." Garrus suggested.

"That's a great idea. I will check with Alliance training for the same info and we will take a few days to knock out new strategies. We can use the Alliance training center here on the Citadel." Kaidan says.

"I don't know if I want to spend more time here on the Citadel with my shadows." Shepard says.

"Yes well we aren't going anywhere until the ship is ready anyway, we might as well take advantage of the perks while we are here. Wouldn't want you guys to get rusty lounging around. I need you to be in top shape so I know that you will come back to me here." Joker says.

"Oh, Joker... I didn't know you cared." Shepard says and she gets up and gives him a big hug and a kiss on his cheek which causes him to blush.

"Oh come on, it's just that I don't like all the paperwork that causes." Joker says.

"Yes, I am sure that is all it is." Dr. Chakwas says with a knowing smile.

They finish dinner and put away the dirty items in the cleaning chute. As they leave the mess Kaidan grabs Shepard to the side.

"So I will come in to see you later." he tells her in a low voice.

"Don't bother, I am turning in early tonight, it's been a long day." she says.

"But it's been I while, I was hoping..."

"Hope springs eternal, go work it out in the gym. Maybe there you can come to a grand realization of the error of your ways."

"Shepard..." Kaidan starts.

"No." Shepard says and she retreats to her cabin and the privacy light goes on.

_Damn that woman. I should have known. Well a workout wouldn't be a bad idea, least it will get rid of some of the energy I was saving up._ Kaidan goes and gets his gym clothes and his toiletries and than heads for the gym.

* * *

Kaidan is taking a nice hot shower after working out in the gym. He hears the door open and close so someone must have come in, but it was the men's shower so that wasn't too odd. He finishs his shower and gets out to get dressed. His clothing is gone as well as the towels and everything else he could possibly use to cover himself.

"Shepard" he yells. "Shepard, you better bring my stuff back"

Knowing that she is in hearing range, and also knowing that there is no way she was going to give him his clothing back until at least one crew member, one female crew member, sees him running around with no clothing on. It is his own fault really, He knew that once she found out he had tricked her into thinking he was hiding something she would get even. Problem was her way of getting even always involved putting him in awkward situations or embarrassing him so she could see him blush. This certainly fit the bill. Usually she just tried to have someone catch him after she took a few minutes turning him on, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hide his condition in his uniform. _I guess she felt this deserved something more drastic._

"Joker" he said activating his implanted comm.

"Yeah, Alenko."

"Joker I need you to get someone to bring me a towel or some clothing to the men's shower."

"Yeah and you know that the chances of that happening anytime soon are right after the end of forever and when hell freezes over." Joker tells him.

"She got to everyone?"

"Oh Yeah."

"How bad?" Kaidan asks.

"Most likely every female on the ship is camped outside that shower right now."

"Shit, I really pissed her off this time."

"Yeah, you would think that you would have known better by now. What are you a slow learner." Joker asks him.

"Evidently. But hey I was just trying to keep her healthy, it was for her own good" Kaidan defends himself.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that , cause I don't think she saw it that way. I think that she is pissed you tricked her."

"Yes Joker we already covered that. Hey did you turn on the air conditioner in here?"

"She has Tali with her." Joker tells him.

"Shit, she just turned the air conditioner on in here, It's going to get cold in here real fast."

"Why don't you just take it like a man and run, that cold is not going to do anything for your ego."

"Because." Kaidan said through gritted teeth. "If know her, then she has hidden all my clothing and it is not going to be easy to find something to wear. I am going to be wondering around nude with a bunch of women staring at me and making rude remarks. Not looking forward to that man."

"Well you could just go out the door and apologize and get it over with. Maybe she will take pity on you. You know the cold diminishing you personal assets. She might go easy on you."

"Yeah, going easy on me is not her idea of getting even. It's getting really cold in here Joker, can't you override the air conditioner?"

"Did I mention Tali?" Joker asks.

"Yeah, has she got you totally locked out."

"You've got it."

"I am going to have to go out there in the nude in front of an audience and apologize to Shepard." Kaidan says.

"Yeah, sucks to be you."

"I am going to get a waterproof container with a change of clothing to take in here with me from now on."

"Yeah, doesn't matter, she would figure out something else to do to you." Joker tells him.

"Yeah, she would."

"So, after you apologize then you guys will be square, right? That will be the end of it?"

"No." Kaidan told him _but I am sure the rest of my torture will be held in private_.

"So are you going to go out and get it over with or what?"

"It is getting really cold in here."

"Just suck it up and get it over with you big baby." Joker suggests.

He takes a deep breath and walks out of the bathroom expecting wolf whistles laughing or cheering or something utterly ridiculous like that, what he gets is silence. Standing in front of him is Shepard all by herself with his robe in her hand and his clothes on a chair beside her.

She looks down at him, "hummm, is it a little cold in there marine?" she asks.

He walks over to her and says "I am very sorry that I tricked you."

She hands him the robe and he put it on. "And you won't try and trick me again?" she says to him.

"Well not if you're going to catch me, no." _of course, you have to catch me first _"what was the purpose of this exercise?" he asks her.

"To prove to you that what you think I can do to you can sometimes be worse than what I will do to you and vise versa."

"And why did you not have all the women down here like Joker thought you would?" he asks taking her into his arms.

"The punishment fit the crime, you pretended you were up to something, I pretended there was an audience." She gives him a big kiss.

"Mmmm, I am so glad you didn't have an audience out here." he says to her pulling her closer.

"Yeah well it's time for you to get dressed so we can give the deck back to everyone. We can continue this upstairs." she pulls away from him.

"I'd like that." he tells her as he starts to get dressed.

Oh and Kaidan." she says as she walks towards the elevator.

"Yes."

"About having an audience."

"Yeah?" She turns and looks at him.

"Next time, I just might." She tells him with a sly grin.

And he gives her the blush that he is sure she has been waiting for.


	13. Searching For Secrets

Bioware owns all!

Sorry it took so long for the update folks. I had to go back to school to learn to write better so to speak and I have been working hard at it, so the updates should be a little slow, but should speed up as I get better at doing it... It seems I am really thick. It's really had trying to understand the literary aspect when you mind is more interested in math.

Thanks as always to Shenzi & Sesheta for their support, when I was at the end of my rope, they pulled me back.

And to Star most of all because she is teacher and friend with the patients of Job... I mean she would have to be to put up with me... right?

Then too my extended support group of Sirius, Aslan and Kioux, who everyday give me words of encoragement. Sirius... this one will make you feel better... Let's go...

* * *

**Searching for Secrets**

The SSV Antietam looked exactly like the SSV Normandy, the problem was they tried to better her systems by making changes and some of those changes just didn't work out. Now the crew was spending precious time trying to get the engines, drive core and computer systems to work together. To that end they were stuck at a dock on the Citadel with Alliance engineers making a gratuitous visit every couple of days. Adams requested that Shepard shoot the next one that came by. She had considered it but decided that Kaidan might have a problem with that, so she didn't. Adams was not pleased so she stayed away from engineering. Now she stood by the open airlock waiting for her new crew mates to arrive.

Shepard watched the six marines walk up the gangway and enter the ship. They had their duffel bags and other personal items with them. She stood at ease waiting for someone to say something.

"Permission to come aboard Commander" the young lady in the front said. She had brown hair and green eyes and an air confident about her. Shepard recognized her from the holo in her file; this was the new Navigator First Lieutenant Ouisin Unwin.

"Permission granted marines" Shepard said. They entered the ship and lined up along the walkway between the airlock and CIC. Shepard personally greeted every one of them. Last she got to Unwin. She noticed Unwin looking towards the cockpit with a somewhat possessive expression although she wasn't sure if the look was for the pilot's seat or the pilot himself. There was something in her facial expression that Shepard knew but couldn't place.

"So Lieutenant Unwin, nice to have you on board, " Shepard said. Lieutenant Unwin twisted around to face her. Joker, who had been ignoring the whole group, suddenly swung around in his chair to watch the exchange going on outside the cockpit.

"Yes Ma'am, thank you Ma'am."

"So top of your class and I see you have several commendations for your skills as a navigator."

"Yes Ma'am."

Shepard folded her hands behind her back and made her tone light. "So Unwin you were the only marine to actually volunteer to serve on the Antietam." She furrowed her eyebrows her tone conspiratorial. "You do realize that our last ship was destroyed."

"Yes Ma'am. But I do believe my skills will be a useful addition to the Antietam's already excellent and well rounded crew. I also followed your speech about the Reapers, and although most of the information about them is classified, I realize that this is a very dangerous mission."

Shepard looked over her head and had a far off look in her eye her voice thoughtful. "Well unfortunately, sitting by the wayside may be just as dangerous."

"Ma'am?" Unwin furrowed her brow looking at the other soldier for support.

"Don't worry it will make sense once you're briefed," she said shaking off her dreamy state.

Shepard stepped back to address all the marines. "This is Corporal Hugh Molton. He will show you where to stow your gear and give you the tour. Then Staff Lieutenant Alenko will brief you in the comm center at ten hundred hours. We are not too formal here. Get along with your fellow marines, stay out of the Alpha team's way and we should all get along fine. If you have problems working with aliens, leave them at the door, because I will not tolerate it. That's about it. Welcome to the crew. Dismissed."

Shepard watched the new crew members filter down the corridor towards CIC. She noticed Unwin glance back at Joker who quickly turned away. _Now what was that about? _Unwin followed the others trailing Molton. Shepard joined Joker in the cockpit.

"So you know Unwin. Why didn't you say so?" she folded her arms. "Is there a problem?" She cocked her head inquiringly.

"No Shepard. No problem," he spoke quickly, almost too quickly. "We have worked together that's all." Joker adjusted his hat his eyes unable to maintain contact with her. "I just never expected her here. Did you say she requested this posting?"

"Yes, she is the only volunteer in the lot." she flicked her head in the direction the marines had gone. "So is she a good navigator?"

"Yes, she is. One of the best actually. I think you'll be happy with her work."

"Is there something about her I won't be happy with?" she said sternly, stared intently at him raising her eyebrows.

"Nothing that I can think of Shepard," his voice sounded nervous as he shook his head and swallowed.

"You know Joker," she said slowly looking him up and down. "You haven't cracked one joke while I have been standing here. Are you feeling alright?"

"Actually," he licked his lips turning them down in a grimace, "I have a sick feeling in my stomach."

"Go see Doc, it's not like we are going anywhere."

"Right, thanks Shepard. See you later," he rattled off quickly then rushed past her as fast as he could, heading down the corridor to CIC.

"Yeah, see you at dinner," she said offhandedly following his slow progress down the corridor_ it's really isn't like him not to crack jokes. He didn't even have one comment on the new crew. This is really strange._

* * *

The elevator door opened onto the crew deck and Joker looked out to see Unwin passing by. He grabbed her by her elbow and pulled her into the elevator, then punched the button for the gym deck. The door closed and the elevator started its slow crawl to the next floor.

"Ouis, what are you doing here?" he hissed in a low voice his heart racing, he shook her arm not letting it go.

"Well you wouldn't answer my letters and I didn't like they way we left things," matching her volume with his she glanced down at his hand on her arm and then back to his face.

"Ouis, you _can't_ be here!" the pain in his voice still evident even at the low tones, he released her arm and fell back against the wall of the elevator, looking up at the ceiling. "You have to ask for a transfer."

"I am not going to do that Jeff." She said calmly as she shakes her head and reaches for his cheek. "You are here and I am staying right here."

"This mission is really dangerous," he turned towards her and grabbed both her arms his voice filled with tension. "You can't be here!"

"But I am here and I'm staying," poking his chest with a finger several times she continued her angry retort trying not to raise her voice. "You almost died on the Normandy. I had to find out from a news vid that you were alive. You never even let me know you survived. Now I'm here with you. You're going to have to deal with this."

The elevator finally opened, and he looked around to make sure no one was around before exiting. He kept one hand on her arm and he slowly led her to the alcove by an escape pod for privacy.

"I told you when I left that I didn't know if I would even be back." He kept his voice low but it sounded rough and there was anguish behind the tension. "Why are you doing this?"

"You know why. You left because you're afraid of what I want." She jutted her chin out to him defiantly then spoke quickly still angry. "No negotiations, no discussion, you didn't even say goodbye. That's not good enough for me, Jeff"

"Ouis, listen, it isn't like I don't care for you, I really do," he released her and stepped back from her his voice rough with sadness. "It's just that you deserve better then a man who's falling apart."

"As far as I am concerned there _is_ no one better," she placed her hand on his arm the anger gone from her voice.

Joker looked at the woman in front of him. _I should have known she wouldn't just let it go. I never expected to get close to her, and I certainly never expected her to fall for me. Now she has gone and put herself in danger just to be with me._ He ran his hand down the side of her face.

"So... you do realize that fraternization rules apply since we're under the same command?"

"So you're telling me I might have to worry?" relief tinged her voice as she stepped closer him.

"God, you are almost as stubborn as Shepard." He took her into his arms and kissed her.

* * *

Several days passed during which time Unwin became familiar with the crew's duty assignments, shift schedules and relationships. It was all very interesting and at times confusing. She hadn't had much time to see Jeff as they were on opposite shifts but she had time to think about what he'd said. _Fraternization rules._

Shepard hadn't been kidding when she said that not being along for the mission was just as dangerous. When Lieutenant Alenko had given his brief he left nothing out. No wonder Shepard was sure the Reapers were a threat to more than just humans. This was the stuff of old horror vids.

She was on a break, drinking coffee in the mess and she thought about Shepard. She had heard so much about her before coming it was hard not to get a preconceived opinion of her. Hard ass, dangerous, stubborn and cold were some of the words used to describe her. Since they hadn't left port Unwin was free to roam the ship and help out where she could. She used this time to observe Shepard and try and find out just how much of a hard ass she really was. Was she by the book, or did she allow some leeway? Did she ride you ass, or did she allow you to get the job done in your own way and at your own pace?

From her observation so far she found that Shepard was prone to bouts of anger, and when she was on a tear most of the crew stayed out of her way. In contrast the Alpha team always rallied around her at those times like moths to a flame. In the end they usually got her calm and centered. She had noticed that Jeff was treated as part of the Alpha team, he even ate with them. As for if Shepard was a by the book truly hard ass; nothing had come up that would give Unwin enough data to make even an educated guess, so at this point, the jury was still out.

Sipping again on her coffee she noticed Staff Lieutenant Alenko passing by. She watched as he made his way towards Shepard's cabin _He spends and awful lot of time with the Commander._ She swallowed another mouthful of coffee, gazing after him thoughtfully. _He is in there more often than what can be accounted for in staff reports and updates. I wonder... if they have something going. Maybe I can use that to my advantage. This way if Jeff and I get caught, Shepard won't write us up or separate us. It looks like I am going to have to find out more about the Staff Lieutenant. Yes it could turn out to be just the leverage I need._ Finishing her coffee, she left the mess and returned to the CIC.


	14. Chocolate

Bioware owns the all the characters in Mass Effect, I am just playing in their playground.

Special thanks to Star who in her busy life is helping me to actually make sense when I write... It's a hard job...

Thanks to Shenzi always there for support when needed.

But especially to Sesheta, because when I was doubting, she was there to pull me out.

For all you readers who have been sticking through... we are moving on … this is a personal chapter for Shepard and Kaidan... they are inviting us inside... enjoy...

* * *

**Chocolate**

Shepard sat in the middle of her bed playing solitaire. The room was designed in the same sparse way as her cabin on the Normandy. Table, desk, comm terminal, a few combination closets/cabinets and a combination bathroom/shower. She didn't know if Kaidan was going to be able to come tonight. It was natural for a newly assigned officer to watch her commander, learn her style, her likes and her dislikes, but the last few days Shepard had noticed that Unwin seemed to be doing more than that; she seemed to be stalking her. Shepard suspected she knew why and if it was what she thought, and then it would be a good thing for them. She would have to see if her supposition is right. She hadn't figured out how to do that yet, but she would. The door opened, Kaidan rushed in and it closed. He had gone through so much trouble to make the door as silent as possible. She noticed he had a bag in his hand as he locked the door and slid the privacy on all in one movement.

"What's in the bag?" she pointed to the bag with the deck of cards still in her hand.

"Something you said I needed to bring with me if I wanted to talk to you." Kaidan walked towards her shaking the bag in the air.

"Candy?" her tone took on a whiny quality. "Are you going to want to have one of those damn talks about my feelings again?" she looked down at her card layout and started picking up the cards her face set in a frown.

"No, I don't think this is a feeling's thing, I think this is more of an..." he tilted his head and smiled at her, "informational thing."

"Well that was cryptic without giving anything away." her brows furrowed as she looked at him suspiciously, then looked at the bag and jerked her chin towards it. "So, what's in the bag?"

Kaidan lifted the bag and shook it again a big smile spreading across his face. "Chocolate."

"_NO!"_ her eyes got wide and her body shook as she raised her voice, then she seemingly froze like a animal caught in headlights.

As Kaidan walked over to the bed her eyes following his every move. He opened his boots and took them off, then climbed onto the bed with her.

"You said we would talk about it if I brought you chocolate, Ari and I need to know what you think about it," he kept his voice calm as he intended to do through the whole conversation hoping to influence her reactions.

"You said this was not a feeling talk..." she looked down at her hands and scrunched up her shoulders whining again, "that is heavy feelings Kaidan!"

"Hey, it doesn't have to be," he put his hand under her chin and raised her head to look at him. "I am not asking you to stop everything and have a baby now Ari, I just want to talk about it. I want to see whether you think we have a future together and whether children are a part of that future."

She looked down at the bag as if it had something far more dangerous in it than just candy, she flicked her head at it and asked a little less whiny, "that's a big bag, did you bring a lot of chocolate?"

"yes Ma'am, I did."

"Why?" back to her normal tone of voice she narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Because knowing you as I do…" he raised an eyebrow, tilting his head trying to keep the chuckle he felt out of his voice. "I think I am going to need it."

He watched as she got silent and still, her face and body seeming to close in upon themselves. _Okay now the fun starts – god, even my thoughts sound sarcastic. She is now going to do everything she can to avoid the subject that I want to talk about; little does she know I have something else on my mind._

Slowly reaching over she put the cards on the night stand then she touched the picture of her parents (it was a nightly ritual for her to touch the picture, it is her way of saying 'good night, I love you' to them). She then scooted across the bed and climbed onto his lap.

Putting her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes and said slowly. "Are you sure I can't tempt you away from this conversation with hot sex?"

"Oh, I want the hot sex too," happily placing his hands on her hips he kissed her on the nose and smiled at her. "I mean getting chocolate here on the Citadel was really expensive," drawing out the last two words to indicate what a chore he had had getting the candy for her.

"And your friend Pete came in earlier today on a shuttle from earth and I am sure that's where you got the chocolate." Sounding annoyed she pulled her arms back from around his neck, turned sideways on his lap looking away from him and waved her hand dismissively. "It didn't cost you as much as you're pretending it did. When did you call him?"

"You know it is really hard when you girlfriend is good at espionage and figures out things with only a little bit of information." Putting his arms around her he gives her a squeeze then lets her go. "I called him three weeks ago when I knew that the ship was going to be finished and we were going to be here for a while getting her up to specs."

"So you have been planning this for a while." still sounding annoyed she looked down and squared her shoulders.

_She looks like she is calculating how to avoid this conversation again and if I can't get it out of her __head we will never have this discussion_. Since she is still sitting sideways on his lap it gives him easy access to her neck. Reaching over he distracts her by nibbling on it, the one simple thing he could do to disrupt her concentration. She leaned into his kiss and sighed and he continued until he felt her relax against him.

Sitting up slowly he wrapped his arms around her. "So now about children..."

Trying to get up she found herself trapped in his arms, she speaks quickly. "I told you I am not good with children, what more do you need to know." She took a deep breath and folded her arms.

Tilting his head he tries to look into her eyes. "Do you want any?"

"I don't know?" looking away she shrugged and then she looked back at him raising her voice sharply. "How _would_ I know?"

"What do you mean how would you know?" his voice a bit sharp, Kaidan furrowed his brow and frowned at her like he was trying to delve into the mysteries of the Protheans.

Putting her hand on his arm she started to pick at his shirt sleeve watching her fingers her voice takes on a soft quality. "How would I know if I wanted children, is there a feeling or something involved in it or is it an intelligent thought thing."

"Well let's start on the intellectual level first," making his voice calm again. "Do you think you would want to have children at some point in your life?"

"I think I need some chocolate." Her tone demanding, she put out her hand still picking at his sleeve with the other.

Kaidan pulled one arm from around her making sure the other still held her firmly and reached into the bag and drew out a stick of chocolate and handed it to her. Letting go of his sleeve she opened it, took a small bite then swirled the chocolate around her mouth. He waited for her to swallow then said, "Well let's start with this then," he placed his arm across her lap loosely holding onto her thigh. "Do you think it would be possible that you _might _want children with me sometime in the future after we defeat the Reapers?"

Taking another bite of chocolate she slowly chewed and swallowed it before answering, her voice now calm. "Well I think it could be a possibility."

"That's a very vague and rather uninformative answer."

"You want a yes or a no, don't you?" speaking quickly, her voice no longer calm but raising in pitch as she furrowed her brows and looked down. "If I say yes you'll be happy, and if I say no, you'll be pissed." Shepard snapped pursing her lips.

"Nope this is an information only discussion right now." He pulled her up adjusting her more comfortably on his lap keeping his tone firm and calm. "I am not going to be pissed at you I just want to know what I'm facing, you know, with you, in the future."

"What's wrong with talking about it then," a whiny quality creeping into her voice, turning her face towards him but looking down thoughtfully "why do we have to talk about it now?"

"Because it came up," he said trying to get her to make eye contact with him but not able to. "I want to know if you would be open to having a family."

"Well I am all for families," the whining sounds fading, she looked forward leaned her hands on his arm and played with the chocolate wrapper, twisting and folding it, "mine is great, well except my mother has ideas how I should live my life." She glanced at her parent's holo.

"I think that is normal of most mothers," he also glanced at her parent's holo.

"What about yours?" her voice is back to normal, she turned to look in his eyes. "What does she want for you?"

"She wants me to be happy," he looked at her hands playing with the chocolate wrapper then looked back in her eyes still keeping his voice calm. "If I'm happy, then she'll be happy."

"Okay, so are you happy?"

"For the most part yes," he put his arms around her again giving her a squeeze. "Now about this children issue…"

"Kaidan what do you want me to tell you?" her voice raised, she turned her face away and threw her hands up and the wrapper when flying then she let them fall back into her lap behind his arm. "I don't even know if we can defeat the Reapers since we are the only ones that believe in them." The volume of her voice slowly returning to normal. "Then there is whoever is kidnapping biotics and we haven't got even one of them back." She lifted her head and looked at the ceiling. "Do you really want to bring children into this universe?"

"If they had your eyes, and my disposition, yes," he gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Well genetics being what they are, I think the chances are better for your eyes and my disposition," she turned her face to his and tilted her head looking at him with half lidded eyes she says snidely. "Can you imagine how much fun it's going to be running after a child that can actually set traps and put them in your way?" she gave him a sly smirk.

"Well since her mother would be one step ahead of her," he smiled at her and shook his head. "I see no problem with it."

"You really think that I can do this?" the whiny quality in her voice returning, she leans back in his arms. "What if I just want to shoot it?"

"Shepard." Kaidan chuckled and shook his head, "you would not shoot your own child."

"Well you know my temper," her voice strong now, she looked past him not focusing on anything and nodded her head, "I might." She sat up and looked back at him, "right now I think I need more chocolate."

He laughed and reached his hand into the bag securing another stick and handed it to her. He still tried to maintain the calm quality of his voice hoping to continue influencing her. "So you're open to having children with me sometime in the future?"

She frowned at him and took a bite of chocolate sucking on it and letting it melt on her tongue before she answered. "Well I guess I'm not against it," her voice sped up. "Is that good enough? Are we finished yet?"

Shaking his head at her he put his hand across her lap. "Not even close. So this would be after we defeat the Reapers of course."

"Yes I suppose it couldn't be before that, because someone would have to be pregnant," she waved the stick of chocolate in the air stressing her point and matching it with a matter of fact tone, "if you want to go the natural route that is, and since you can't be and I am not going to go into battle being pregnant…" She paused for a moment processing the implication of what she0'd just said. Her eyes went wide and she straightened her back and started talking faster. "Hey I don't think I _want_ to be pregnant. Kaidan this is not a good idea at all!"

Rubbing her back he couldn't help but smile. "Calm down Ari, this is not a today thing, this is a _future _thing and we will worry about the mechanics of it later. We don't have to make all the decisions now." He kept rubbing her back as she shoved more chocolate into her mouth frowning as she chewed.

As she calmed, he asked, "So does this mean that you would like to spend your future with me?"

Turning her upper body to face him she said "Yes, I would." She frowned at him, "but you know that."

Looking upward and shaking his head before looking at her again. "No, I don't know that, because you never talk about things like that."

"Well you," she poked his chest twice with a finger her voice an octave above normal but relatively calm, "always say _we_ when you talk about the future and when you talked about kids you said _we_, so…" she shrugged and looked in his eyes her voice returned to normal, "I assumed that _you_ had it all figured out and I wasn't going to worry about it." She smiled at him.

"You would let me plan your whole future for you?" his voice took on an incredulous tone as he studied her face.

"As long as you let us deal with the Reapers first, and we survive," she nodded her head facing forward again, "yes."

"So no Shepard control issues," he lifted his hand off her lap and made a sweeping arc with it, "anything goes?"

"I do _not_ have control issues," she said a bit snippy, "I am in charge. There is a difference."

"So if, say, we defeat the Reapers, and I want us to settle down somewhere," he put his hand under her jaw and turned her face to him. "Retire. You would be okay with that?"

"Yes after we save the universe I think it _would_ be time for me settle down. I mean after you save the universe," she faced forward again and threw wide her hands, "what else it there?"

"And you would be okay with giving up everything, to stay with me doing whatever I decide to do?"

"Sure for the most part, I guess. Well I wouldn't want to give up my guns. I could still do the shooting range right? And I could go through Pinnacle Station right?" She looked at him tilting her head raising her voice slightly at each question. "You know, to stay sharp in case I am needed?"

"Yes, I would be okay with that." _T__his is going my way much too easily. I wonder what the catch _is.

"Well then okay, I see no problem then," her tone back to normal she relaxes in his lap.

"Okay now let's say I wanted to stay in the Alliance, and I wanted you to quit. Would you do it?"

She tilts her head thinking about the question... she says slowly; "Well I guess if you wanted me to I could. I would still be a Spectre anyway."

_And there is the catch. _"Well, no you wouldn't. I said give up everything. That means giving up being a Spectre too."

She shook her head voice firm "No, I don't think I want to give that up. I don't know. We'll see. I like being a Spectre," her voice took on a slow, angry quality, "but I would like it more if I had the support of the Council, which I hope to have once they realize the Reapers are a reality. You think they would believe me since I did help to defeat a Reaper in their backyard. I did save their asses too." her voice was getting a deeper, mean quality that Kaidan knew very well. "They really should start giving me more support or I'm thinking I might just have to shoot the Turian Councilor. He is the one causing most of the problems. That might not go over too well."

"Okay first off, no shooting any Councilors," his voice firm he looks at her.

"Kaidan…"

"No Shepard," keeping his voice firm but louder. "No shooting Councilors, for any reason less than self defense or indoctrination. And even then the self defense needs to be an immediate threat of death not an inferred threat!"

"But Kaidan…"

"No Shepard," he shakes his head at her making his voice deep and strong, "those are the only two exceptions! Promise me."

"But I don't want to," her voice slightly whiny, she creases her brow and thrust out her bottom lip in a pout.

"You will promise me now!" he raises his voice speaking quickly. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Well I wasn't exactly planning it yet," she started to pick on his sleeve again her voice thoughtful. "I was thinking I needed to do something. You know that would really get their attention. Let them know how serious the situation is. I was considering it."

"Yes I could tell," his voice stern and demanding, "so promise me now you will not kill any Councilors except if they are a direct threat to life and/or immediate threat of bodily harm and not just disagreeing with you. Don't fight me on this Ari!"

Shepard stopped playing with his sleeve, furrowed her brow and pursed her lips at him angrily.

"Now Ari, promise me right now!" Kaidan shook her in his arms and raised his voice.

"But if I promise you that, then I have to stick with it," she said morosely.

"Right, our agreement is that if you make me a promise, then you have to stick with it."

"But you make me promise things that I don't want to do, that's not fair." she pushed her lips out again whining.

"Fair or not, I can't have you kill a Councilor just because he disagreed with you. Not even if he doesn't believe you or because you don't like him." His voice returning to calm rationality he was hoping to project onto her; tying to get her away from this strange irrational place she liked to run off to.

"I don't like him." Shepard snapped and her eyes flashed.

"Right, promise me now!" his voice firm he glared at her.

"I'm a Spectre, I should be able to get away with it." she made her voice reasonable, sweet, coaxing, Shepard at her worst. "I could say he was indoctrinated like Saren. He is doing a disservice to the Council by saying the Reapers don't exist. He is making it hard to prepare. And besides, nobody would miss him, he is rude and mean!" she got louder with the final point her brows tight with anger.

"Just promise me now!" Kaidan said slowly through gritted teeth.

"What if I could do it and nobody would know it was me?" she raised up in his lap with excitement in her voice like she found the solution to all problems.

"No," he shook his head at her and said calmly "don't even think about it, just give it up."

"Oh, alright." Shepard frowned thrusting her bottom lip out again in a pout.

"Say it."

"I will not kill any Councilors unless I am in immediate threat of bodily harm or they are indoctrinated. Are you happy now!" she twisted her face in a grimace of anger as she forced out each word snapping out the last four sharply.

"I'm getting there." Taking a few moments, Kaidan took a deep breath and let it out slowly trying to center himself after the narrowly won victory. His voice now calm again he said, "Now about our future…"

"Chocolate!" She snapped at him holding out her hand.

"Well I think you've had enough chocolate." He rubbed her back and smiled at her. "How about a present instead?"

"I will consider it, what kind of present?" she started playing with his sleeve again not looking at him.

"Well it is something I want you to wear."

"Nothing that goes up the butt crack or doesn't have a crotch I hope." she turned her head to him and leaned it to her left scrunching her nose in dislike.

"No, nothing that would mess with your feminine dignity." Kaidan laughed.

Shepard made a rude noise. "Dignity has nothing to do with it, they're just uncomfortable," she returned her attention to his sleeve.

Kaidan pulled a small red velvet box out of his pocket. "It's in here," he held it in front of her.

"Kaidan that looks like a jewelry box, I don't wear jewelry." Her eyes got wide and her face pulled in and she stated to talk faster. "It's not a ring is it? That is really old fashioned." She pulled back from the box.

"Open it up and look."

Shepard took the box from his hand and climbed out of his lap and back onto the bed. She slowly opened the box as if a geth might be hiding inside. There was a heart locket inside. Its silver colored metal etched with an intricate design and the letters A and K on it with an ampersand to tie them together. She pulled it out of the box with a blank look on her face. She examined the locket carefully. As she followed the etching of the letters she slowly started to smile and relax. She followed the seam of the locket but when she attempted to open it he stopped her.

"Before you open it, I want you to know that what's inside will constitute another promise. So before we get to that, will you wear this for me? It's made of the strongest metal and it can easily sit under your clothes and armor without any problem just like your dog tags."

"Well it is very nice, and I like it. So okay I will wear it for you. Now what does this promise entail?"

"Okay now you can open it. It's a DNA lock it will only open for you or me."

Shepard opened the locket. Inside was a second chain attached to an intricate cage containing a small blue diamond in the shape of a tear drop. She held up the chain allowing the cage to hang loose and swing to and fro. She furrowed her brow and sucked in her lower lip, lifting her eyes to his she said "Why two?"

"That is a family diamond. My great-great-great-grandmother had it in a ring when she was married. I got it from my grandmother."

"Married?" she cocked her head at him "That is really old fashioned, Kaidan."

"I know it is. But let me explain the promise I'm asking of you. I love you Ari and I think – I hope – you feel the same way about me. If you do, I'm asking that you wear the locket around your neck. If you change your mind – stop loving me, return the whole thing to me, no questions asked. But if you decide to be with me forever, like a marriage, you'll take the diamond out and wear it instead."

"Why would I stop loving you?" her voice sharp she looked up at him.

"I don't know that you would, but there is always the chance. I might get promoted, or reassigned," keeping his voice calm he reached over to pat her leg. "We might not be together. You might meet someone else. With everything that happens to us every day, it is always a possibility."

"Actually, uh, it's funny you should say that," she said haltingly and softly pulling her leg away from him she blanked out her expression and it was like she had left the room.

"What did I say?" reaching for her leg again he gave it a shake trying to bring her back.

She closed the diamond back in the locket and made sure it was secure. She turned away seeming to take great interest in the wall, her voice soft sounding far away. "About the promotion thing."

"What about it?" he kept his voice calm he rubbed her leg trying to comfort her.

"Well, it came through. We are being promoted." Shepard still didn't look at Kaidan instead returned her attention to the locket in her hand as if trying to divine it's mysteries.

"Why didn't you tell me?" his voice was sharp, he tried to calm it before going on. "When?"

"I just found out. When the paperwork is finished, I guess; you to Lieutenant Commander, me to Staff Commander." Her voice still sounded far away, she still kept looking at the locket in her hand.

"Well this is good news isn't it" Kaidan watched Shepard examining the locket.

"Yes I guess it is." Raising her eyes to look at the wall she put the chain over her head, then took the heart in her hand, staring at it. She pursed her lips and started grinding her teeth.

Kaidan kept looking at her. _Okay now I know there is a problem, but if I ask after the last two conversations she might lose it. I really wish this woman came with a manual. Grinding her teeth, she isn't smiling, avoiding looking at me. Now do I risk getting my head bitten off or just ignore it and go for the sex. Yeah, not going to happen, I can't just let her ignore her feelings, and I can't ignore them either._ He put the bag of chocolate on the table and climbs across to her. He sat back pulled her onto his lap and secured her in his arms.

"So, what's the problem?" Kaidan asked in a gentle voice.

"Nothing." She stopped grinding her teeth and started playing with the locket running her fingers over the letters.

"Ari, please. I have asked you time and time again to not shut me out. If you're thinking of something I need you to tell me, so I know how to reach you. Please."

"Well, it's nothing really. I guess I didn't think we would be separated so fast. That's all." Running her fingers along the chain and back to the locket her voice is soft and distant.

"What do you mean separated? Why would we be separated?"

"Cause you got promoted. Lieutenant Commander, you will probably be reassigned shortly." She leaned into him.

"You don't want me on your team?"

"Yes I do, but I don't think they will let you stay here. You have leadership potential and they are going to want to train you for that. That means missions on your own, not in the shadow of the _great_ _Commander Shepard_." Shepard said bitterly turning her eyes down in anger.

"Well it is true they may send me on some missions, I think that Admiral Hackett will make sure I stay with you, especially if you ask him nicely." He shakes her in his arms and smiles at her.

"No, I am not going to ask him nicely." Her voice had sharpness in it and her brows furrowed in anger.

"What?"

"I told him I wanted you to stay with the team. I told him I needed your expertise and skills. He said I had a good team and he was loath to split it up, but that I shouldn't hold you back." She looked at him her eyes flashing with the angry burr in her voice. "I pointed out that you were a hero in your own right and that it really should be up to you."

"Well then what are you worried about?"

"What if they offer you something you can't turn down?" the winy tinge to her voice was back and she threw her arms out a time or two with her words. "Some dream job? You had aspirations before you met me that you'd put on hold." She looked away from him and her voice softened. "The intensity of our relationship, it can't last. At some point you are going to want to pursue the career you always wanted." her voice took on a sad, resigned quality. "You want me to give up my career so we can be together. I still have to destroy the Reapers Kaidan, no one else is going to do that. I can't stop being Commander Shepard now."

"Where would I go that would be better than being here with you. What could be better than saving the universe with you, Ari." He looked at her with a sly smile trying to break her out of her melancholy mood. "Besides, I can pursue a career later when I have you in a home that I have made for us and you are barefoot and pregnant." He laughed at the squeal his words produced from her and hugged her tightly.

"You know Kaidan, the more I think about it, having a baby may not be a good idea." She looked at him and said in a conspiratorial whisper " I don't think that Spectre's are allowed to be mothers."

"That is not true." He laughed at her "You're making that up. You can be a Spectre and a mother, but okay I agree not right now. First we have to take care of the Reapers." He kissed her cheek and gave her a hug. "But truly, when this is over, I would like to know that you will be there for me."

"Kaidan I will be with you. I can't think of anyone else I would want to be with."

"Good and then when this is over, we will worry about getting married and having babies."

"Kaidan, marriage is such an outdated concept. Almost no one does it anymore."

"Ari, are your parents married?"

"Yeah, they are, but they're old fashioned."

"So? Mine are too. I am telling you that I want to spend the rest of my hopefully long life with you. But I am willing to wait for you to decide. I know it is old fashioned. I know that people do bond contracts now. I want something more meaningful than that. We can certainly do a bond contract if you want that instead. But I like the idea of marriage, it's more romantic. Will you at least keep it in mind, you don't have to decide now, you can take all the time you need. Just keep the necklace on and I will know you still love me."

"But Kaidan you know I love you, I told you."

"Yes, but a guy likes to hear it more than once in a while. I tell you I love you often. Every time I see you wearing the necklace I will know it is you, telling me, that you love me."

Shepard turned around in his arms sitting so they were face to face. "Kaidan, I love you. Please, don't ever doubt it. Don't ever doubt me."

"I could never doubt you, my love" he touched her cheek feeling tears build up in his eyes.

"Oh, you're not supposed to cry, I'm the one that supposed to cry." She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close holding him tight.

"Yeah," he laughed at her causing a tear to slide down his cheek. "But you aren't very good at it, and I think this conversation deserves some tears."

"I think you just need more love."

As she covered his mouth with her own and he opened his so their tongues entwined. Reaching around her pulling her closer to him, his body responded to her presence with a familiar rush of heat. He felt her hands run through his hair as she tried to pull him closer. Rolling her over and pressing hard against her a jolt of pleasure shot through his body. She pushed him away, tugging on his shirt and he rolled over, and then got off the bed to undress as she watched him. Then sitting on the bed she slowly undresses throwing her clothes at him as he watches. There laying right between her beautiful breasts was the locket. _I will remember this sight forever. The first time I saw the heart I gave her hanging over her heart._

He joined her on the bed fondling and kissing her. She rolled him over and was on top of him and started kissing and nibbling on his neck. He moaned his eyes half closed he tried to get up and change places with her, but she pushed him down.

"I said you need more love, just relax" she told him huskily.

Kaidan let out a low groan as she slowly explored his body, her touch gentle. He closed his eyes as her mouth joined her fingers in their travels sending waves of pleasure through him. Her slow ministrations sent shivers of anticipation through his body and he inhaled sharply. She continued to tease and tickle him until he nearly exploded with pleasure. Just as he thought he couldn't take much more, she stopped. Working her way back up his body to his mouth she again entwined her tongue with his.

He pulled her close, the delicious feel of naked, sweat slicked skin sliding over his own driving him mad. Wanting, needing more, his fingers roved about her, searching, exploring, listening as the tell-tale catch in her breath told him of her pleasure and drove him on. Pleasure flirted with pain as the need for air became secondary to the need to finish the dance, finish this ancient rhythm between man and woman and bind them so close that where he began and she ended blurred and lost any meaning.


	15. Should Shadows Be Avoided?

Bioware as always owns all!

Thanks to Star for trying to get me to the right place.

Thanks to Shenzi for being there for me.

Thank you Sesh... and you know why!

Thank you Brooke, for returning my Muse to all her glory. She is extremely happy now, and you helped to get her there.

Hey everyone... the last two chapters were all about the crew, because the Antietam is just not ready, so we can't go searching for the bad guys. You should also know that the last two chapters were originally part of this one. It was the chapter that would not end. It took time to get everything to where we are now... but I think we are better for the journey. So now tell me...

* * *

**Should Shadows Be Avoided?**

Kaidan woke to the alarm and switched it off. Shepard who was snuggled next to him groaned, whacking him on the chest before turning away and burrowing further under the covers.

"You know I have to get back in my pod, so stop being so grouchy." He kissed the back of her head. She mumbled something unintelligible to him. He rubbed her back and sat up.

Dressing quickly he grabbed his omnitool and shoved it on then activated it while walking toward the door. Scrolling through the cameras he'd set up to give him a view of the entire deck outside the cabin he sighed with relief as most cameras showed nothing. Stopping as he came to the pod camera, he noticed someone was trying to look into his pod. He looked closely and identified Lieutenant Unwin as the person standing over his pod trying to see inside.

_She really has been curious about my movements._

She seemed to be checking the readings on his pod with interest.

_I'll have to adjust the read outs to mimic me sleeping from now on._

Unwin finished her inspection and headed toward the elevator. Kaidan waited until she was gone then snuck out of the Commander's cabin, thankful that he had put in the extra time to make the door open silently. Safely reaching the corridor on the opposite side of the elevator from Unwin he moved one of the chairs in the mess with a small biotic push. As the lieutenant headed back to investigate the noise, he rushed forward hitting the elevator call button. Luck was with him that the door immediately opened and he quickly stepped inside. The elevator's chime alerted Unwin who rushed back around the corner just in time to see him step out.

"Is there a problem Unwin? You seem out of breath?" Kaidan kept his expression innocently blank.

"No sir, no problem." she looked him up and down. His hair was a mess and his eyes had that puffy look of someone who had just woken up.

"Then I will let you be on your way."

"Yes sir, thank you, sir." She got into the elevator.

Walking towards the pods Kaidan tapped on his omnitool, activating the elevator's camera and sound. He knew that often when alone people tended to talk to themselves. His diligence was soon rewarded.

"So much for your conspiracy theories, Ouis, he was probably in the bathroom on the gym deck. He had obviously been sleeping. This is not getting you anywhere." She taped herself gently on the head.

_Well __that__ proves she was looking for me, but doesn't tell me why__._

As he considered the matter Kaidan approached his pod and climbed in.

_I am going to have to be more creative in my sneaking around I, think. Well, or do with less Shepard time. Yeah, that doesn't sound appealing at all, and it might piss Shepard off, too. I wouldn't want that but I also don't think Unwin would be that open stumbling into one of Shepard's torture sessions on me. I don't think Unwin would understand where Shepard was coming from. Yeah, this could get ugly. _

* * *

Shepard woke up for the second time that morning and reached over for Kaidan, scowling as she remembered that he'd already left. Reaching up to touch the necklace he had given her, she panicked as her fingers encountered nothing but her own skin. She scrabbled frantically with both hands and found the heart had twisted around behind her neck. As she straightened it she sighed with relief and thought once again about Kaidan's proposal of the previous night.

_He says I can take as long as I want to decide. I think the Reapers have to be defeated first before I can think about that. Of course wearing this is going to make me think about it all the time. Sometimes he is very devious._

She got out of bed and attended to her morning routine.

Before leaving the bathroom she caught her reflection in the mirror again. The locket on her chest. She grabbed it, intending to shove it under her shirt and she froze.

_Hey, I should get him something too. Not a necklace... maybe a bracelet. Something that will make him think of me all the time._

She went to her terminal and linked into Citadel information to see if Ockorm Phrell, an old friend and jeweler she and her father had always used in the past, survived the attack. She found he had and quickly sent him a note detailing what she wanted.

A short time later as Shepard was going over the daily logs she was interrupted by a chirping sound signaling an important message coming in. She opened it and began to read.

Shepard –

I can provide what you ask for. I have exactly what you want and I can have it ready in one hour from the time of this message. You're welcome to come and get it. Use caution, there was much damage here and there is a criminal element here in the Chrimiara ward. I hope to see you soon.

– Ockorm Phrell

Smiling to herself she closed the terminal.

_Well now I have to pick it up without him knowing._ _Everyone is so busy I should be able to leave the ship without being noticed and, if I am careful, I can be back before anyone misses me._

She dressed quickly, checking her armor and weapons over before leaving the cabin. She exited the Antietam, looking around her carefully, alert for movement and possible danger.

_Don't know who might be watching. _

Fortunately, a large shipment had been unloaded recently filling the dock with containers and cartons all of which provided excellent cover.

* * *

The woman that the Antietam crew referred to as the female 'shadow' who used the name Amanda Grayston stood up, stretching her aching legs before sliding out from her hiding place behind a large shipping container.

Commander Shepard, their target, made her way towards the docking elevator, never noticing the thin dark-haired woman who followed from a distance, her eyes never leaving her quarry although her fingers tapped her omnitool to signal her partner to meet her. It looked like the target was trying to avoid being seen by her own crew. She followed the target to the transport terminal where Trainer joined her and they got into a transport that then followed their target. This could be their lucky day!

* * *

Shepard exited the transport and headed to Ockorm Phrell's shop.

_He was not kidding about the damage, it used to be beautiful here._

She looked around and saw some shady characters but so far they were taking no notice of her.

She had her Shadows with her. They had been following her since she left the ship. The appeared to be keeping an even distance from her.

_Well, I knew I was taking a chance, but if they are only observing right now, I should be okay. Not like they can't be eliminated if need be._

She entered Ockorm Phrell's office and walked over to the desk. Removing her helmet she sat down as the volus came out of the back and noticed he was not alone.

"Ariana," (breath) "I am glad to see you!" He said, rushing over to greet her.

"Hi, Ockorm, How are you?"

"Oh a bit of this a lot of that." (breath) "You know how it is." (breath) "Did you bring the DNA sample for the..." (breath) "...other donor?"

"You know I did. Here." She handed him a small vial.

"Good, just give me a..." (breath) "...moment to encode it."

He walked over to a machine setting the vial in an indent before tapping on a panel. Lights flickered and the vial disappeared into the machine. Shepard heard some minor noises, but really there wasn't much to see. She leaned back in the chair and puffed out a stream of air. Then she looked around the room at the latest jewelry trends. She saw a pair of earrings her mom would like.

_I will have to tell dad about them. Maybe I will just buy them and he can pick them up. Yes, would be a nice surprise for her._

The volus finished what he was doing and walked over to her.

"Is this what..." (breath) "...you had in mind, dear?"

Taking the pouch from his hand she pulled out a solid silver colored bracelet engraved with an intricate light design based on ancient Celtic knots. Shepard looked at the inscription on the inside and smiled.

"This is perfect. Now it won't bind and it won't be too loose?"

"No, it is made to the..." (breath) "...exact specifications you gave me."

"Great. Oh, and Ockorm - I need those earrings there for Mom. I will pay for them along with the bracelet and Dad will pick them up okay?"

"You don't want me to..." (breath) "...send them on?"

"No, they will be a nice surprise for him to give her next time he visits her. By my calculations he should be here within the week."

"Certainly, that will be no..." (breath) "...problem." The volus processed the payment.

Shepard glanced out the front of the store as she waited for the jeweler to finish with her chit.

_I wonder where the shadows are hiding. Maybe I can avoid the company on the trip back. _

"Ockorm, can I leave out the back? I want to lose a shadow."

"Certainly, I will show you the way." (breath) "It was really nice to see you again." (breath) "Give my love to your mom and dad." (breath) "After she gets her present of..." (breath) "...course."

Shepard laughed "I will do that." She followed the volus to the back.

* * *

Shepard went out the back way and walked towards the alley exit. Then she heard voices, and decided it didn't hurt to be cautious. Taking cover behind a container of some sort she listened, it could be nothing after all.

"I saw Shepard in the jewelers and I was able to get close enough and heard her ask him to show her out the back. They were being friendly though so they might talk a bit."

"The client doesn't care if she is dead or alive, but they want the whole body, so don't lose any pieces."

_Two voices, male, possibly alien looking for me. Figures, nothing is ever simple. All I wanted to do was get a present for my boyfriend, damn._

"Doesn't that seem like an odd request?" The voices continued.

"Who cares? The money's good and they gave us this great ammo and upgraded our weapons." As the mercs laughed Shepard hears the distinct sound of weapons being pulled from holsters. "Is everyone set up? I don't have line of sight on anyone."

"They are and you won't either because of all the debris, but it does make for good hiding places."

"Two stationed just north of us. At the south end we have three groups of two because that has straight access to the transport if you exit from this side you have to go west before you can go east."

Shoving her helmet on and slowly moving to a better cover position back by the wall, Shepard pulled out her assault rifle and quietly readied the weapon. Once she was sure that the ammo selection and the upgrades were secured she replaced in on her back and took out her new sniper rifle. Running her hands over the new weapon she smiled.

_I finally get to try out this baby for real instead of just target practice. This new heat sink system means I can take more shots and not have to worry about overload. The new ammo needs a good tryout too, supposed to cut through shields and armor like butter. _

Pulling out the silencer and securing it, she checked to see if what the men were saying was true. Even if there were two together in each spot, with a rush of adrenaline she could take out two or four at a time easily. It was taking them out without alerting the others that would be the challenge and she loved a challenge. First things first. She squatted down and moved to the end of a dumpster that was blocking her from the view of anyone at the south end of the alley. Hiding behind a crate that blocks the view from the north end of the alley, she slowly worked her head out so as not to alert her assailants to her presence. She saw the two on the west side easily, they are about thirty clicks away. The ones she overheard were on the same side as she is, so she couldn't really make them out. If her hearing was accurate though, that put them approximately six to twelve clicks from her position. If there were six at the south side hiding in various locations at the end of the alley she needed to plot their positions. She carefully scanned the south end of the alley to find the hiding spots of her would be assassins. On the west side she saw two vorcha on a roof. She scanned the area below them and found the other two assailants. They were under and ahead of the ones on the roof.

_The two vorcha on the roof are the biggest threat since they are the ones with the best view of me and __they also can see those two on the ground in front of them. I need to take them out first, without alerting the others. I also need to find the other two that are on the east side. I need to find a spot that will let me see them but block me from them, too._

Looking around she found several locations that would work but she could only get to them by breaking her cover. Then she noticed a small space between the wall and the dumpster that would get her past said dumpster. On the other side of the dumpster there was a partially crumbled wall that had been braced and reinforced that might afford her just the protection she needed and the dumpster would block the north end view of her. There was a hole in the wall that was just a little above eye level that she could push the sniper rifle through and aim at the assailants on the roof. She would have to check if the other four would have a view of her gun though.

She flattened herself against the wall and slowly and as silently as possible slid through the space working herself to the other side of the dumpster. Once through she went to the east side of the wall where there was a space between the wall and the building that would give her a view of the east side. There were crates on the other side of the wall in two rows. The row closest to her was one crate high and behind that they were two crates high. She looked over the crates and scanned the area. She was able to spot the last two assassins. They were under an overhang so the vorcha on the roof couldn't see them from their position. They were also behind the west ground team, but they were in line with them visually. If she could get a good position to aim from she could easily take down all four very quickly.

Moving over to the small hole in the wall it was indeed big enough for her to aim through. She looked through it and saw that the view would be blocked to all the ground assailants. But if the vorcha on the roof looked right at the hole at just the right time they might be able to see the gun. It was a chance she was going to have to take. Checking the settings on the sniper rifle and making sure one last time that the silencer was secured she placed the gun through the hole and took aim. She tested her movement several times to make sure she could move from one target to the other quickly so there would be little to no time for them to react. She did this quickly so they wouldn't notice the rifle sticking out of the hole. Steeling herself she took the shots quickly and luck was with her, both vorcha went down without a sound. Slowly removing the rifle from the hole she took a deep breath.

_That went well let's hope for continued good luck. I love this weapon._

She looked for a way to get to the other side of the wall she had just used for cover. She felt those two rows of crates on the other side would offer the perfect position to take out the four assailants that were left. She saw a crumbled area against the building that looked like it might be big enough if she could just remove a few pieces of debris. She removed the debris quietly and quickly and then shoved her guns through the wall so she would be able to get through with no problem. Shimmying through the makeshift doorway she pulled herself through and secured her weapons keeping her sniper rifle in her hands.

Climbing up onto the lower level of crates she kept her self below the top of the upper level of crates. Moving to a position that she felt would give her the best line of sight for all four assassins she then slowly raised her head just enough to check the line of sight. She had to move a step to the west and then she had a bird's eye view of the four assailants.

Moving very slowly now, so as not to draw attention to herself she slid the sniper rifle into position and checked the aim. It was doable but it would be better if she used a rush of adrenaline. If she timed it just right she could take them all out before they even know what hit them. The timing wouldn't even be that tight. She checked the line of sight and rhythm of the shots several times before finally deciding the best way to make the kill. Steeling herself again she took aim at the first assailant and upon pulling the trigger engaged her adrenaline and took out the other three in very quick order. She waited to see if there was any outcry from the subjects behind her, but she heard nothing. Taking in a deep breath she relaxed herself as her heart rate slowly returned to normal from the adrenaline rush.

She now had to work her way back to the other side of the wall and work out the best position to attack the assailants on the north end. While getting herself back into position she took the time to work out her final strategy.

* * *

Kaidan walked into Shepard's cabin. "Shepard, time for lunch."

He got no answer. He looked around the room.

_Bed not made, not surprising really. Doesn't look like she had breakfast._

He walked over to her terminal and opened it up, entering her code to pull up the last session. He took one look at the email that was on the comm then headed rapidly for the door. As he did so, he activated his omnitool, pinging her. He received no response and quickly tapped into a comm channel.

"Garrus, is Shepard with you?"

"Nope, haven't seen her all day." Garrus answered.

"Suit up, get Wrex and meet me on the dock."

"Be there in five."

"Kaidan?" Liara came over the comm.

"Yes, Liara."

"I just came on duty on the dock. The Shadows are gone."

"Shit, who did you relieve?"

"Huntley and he wasn't feeling well. He might have dozed off."

"Alright, meet me on the dock in five okay."

"Yes, Kaidan."

Kaidan suited up and was outside in three. He waited for half a minute before the other three were there with him.

"Shepard has left the ship. She went to pick up something in the Chrimiara ward. Let's go." Kaidan gestured towards the transport.

Negotiating briefly with the driver, Kaidan offered to pay an extra bonus of triple the amount if the transport driver broke records getting them to their destination. The driver did his best to earn his bonus, but still the trip seemed to take forever.

_What was she thinking? She wasn't obviously. She always thinks she can handle anything. Come on, hurry up. If she is okay I will kiss her and then I am going to lock her up!_

The transport landed and they jumped out and took off for the address of the office Kaidan traced the mail to.

* * *

Trainer took a chance and snuck close to the jeweler shop hoping that Shepard wouldn't take that moment to look out of the shop. He looked inside and the volus was alone.

"She is no longer in the shop. She must have headed out the back." He said over the comm to Grayston.

"I can see the transport from my position and she is not there, so she must still be in the back, we will have to go and check it out." There was silence for a moment and then she advised him, "Shit, four of her crew are landing in a transport. If we want to talk to her we better move it. Hurry."

Trainer headed for the back alley quickly as Grayston closed in behind him.

* * *

Having worked her way to the other side of the wall again Shepard was able to move a large slab of rock that was relatively flat and stable enough for her to stand on and would raise her just enough to see over the dumpster and check the position of the two subjects that were the closest to her and see if she could find a good place for her final assault. Lifting her head slowly over the top of the dumpster she was able to see the two batarians clearly and see that it wasn't going to be easy to get a good line of sight to take the four of them out at the same time. She looked around and decided the best thing to do would be to go to the end of the dumpster and take out the two on the west and then change position and take out the two batarians. It was taking a risk, because it would expose her to the batarians but if she worked it right they wouldn't have time to respond. It wasn't the perfect plan, but it would accomplish what she wanted and finish them all off.

Setting up the shot she could only practice the first two shots. She tried to figure out a better way but she couldn't. Taking a several breaths she readied herself for the adrenaline rush.

* * *

Rushing in to the jewelers, Kaidan looked at the vorlus and with urgency asked. "Are you Ockorm Phrell?"

"Yes." (breath) "Who are you?" Ockorm threw up his hands seeing they were heavily armed.

"I am Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko of the Alliance. I am looking for Commander Shepard she is my CO. I know she was here, do you know where she went?"

"Lieutenant, she went out the back..." (breath) "...maybe twenty or twenty five minutes ago."

"Where?" Kaidan said as he activated his omnitool again to ping Shepard's,

It showed she was still in the alley and she shouldn't be if she left twenty minutes ago. Kaidan had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as they headed for the back door the volus pointed them towards.

* * *

Shepard steeled herself to take out the first two of the four when one went flying into the air ruining the element of surprise. A second later the second one went flying too. Not sure where the biotics were she had no time to lose. She stepped out set up her shot and set her adrenaline rush. She took out the first batarian and then aimed for the second. She saw the flash of his gun a millisecond before her shot was completed and pain shot through her leg spinning her around. She was dazed from the pain and she reached down and felt hot wet sticky blood.

Looking down she saw there was a lot of blood for such a short span of time. She saw the pulse of the blood and realized her artery had been hit.

_That's not good._

She lifted her hand with the blood on it and looked up as she heard footsteps running towards her. She saw that it was the female shadow.

"Shepard!" Amanda Grayston saw the blood as she reached her. "Get over here and help me" she called to someone over her shoulder.

Shepard couldn't stand anymore and was getting light headed. She fell against the woman who helped her down to the ground.

_Damn lucky shot. Shit, I can't get away. Kaidan is going to be pissed at me._

She looked up at the woman working on her armored leg.

"Shepard, I am going to stop the bleeding, hang in there."

"Hurry up, someone is coming, from inside the jewelry store. It's probably her crewmates since you saw them on the transport. One of them is probably linked to her tool." a male's voice said.

"I've got to stop the bleeding or she will die before they get here. Lay down some shots and slow them down, _don't_ hit them." Grayston ordered as she quickly labored on Shepard's leg.

"Got it."

Shepard tried to look and see who was coming. As she tried to turn, she felt the ground move beneath her as her vision blurred.

"Hang in there, Shepard. I've almost got the artery sealed, but you have lost quite a bit of blood." Grayston leaned over her concentrating but her expression looked grim.

Shepard heard shooting and return fire. Then she felt like she was floating and she lost track of time. She came back to reality and there was a series of loud booms and she heard someone running.

"I set off some flash charges, there are four of them and since you don't want..."

Shepard lost consciousness.

* * *

As Kaidan opened the back door he saw the flash of gunfire and took cover. Raising his barrier, he began to collect dark energy for a throw he could use if he could just find a target. Garrus and Wrex moved into position, returning fire but the shooter was good. He had them pinned down, but didn't seem to be trying to hit them.

"Garrus," Kaidan hissed at the turian. "This is a stall tactic. Whoever it is they aren't aiming at us, just keeping us pinned down."

"I noticed. Where is Shepard, is she still in the alley?"

Dissipating the dark matter, Kaidan activated his omnitool quickly and checked then started collecting dark energy again to ready a stasis field. "Yes, she is about twelve to fifteen clicks to the north. There is only one shooter I think, the gunfire sounds the same."

"Yeah, well, he is good." Garrus tries to get a bead on the shooter with his sniper rifle but bullets force him back into cover.

They exchanged fire for several minutes and then there was a flash grenade, and suddenly – it stopped. Checking his omnitool expecting to find Shepard's signal gone, Kaidan was relieved when she showed up in the same location. Believing the stall tactic was to keep them pinned for whatever they were doing he went charging out the alley in the direction of Shepard's signal. As he neared the source of the signal he caught a glimpse of a woman that looked like the female that had been tailing Shepard disappearing around the corner. Shepard lay on the ground in a pool of blood, her leg armor and helmet next to her. He saw she was very pale. Disapating the dark matter, throwing himself down beside her he used his omnitool to check her vitals. Her blood pressure was low and her pulse was light, but it was there. Checking her leg he saw a bullet wound that obviously cut the leg artery. It had been expertly tended and the bleeding had stopped. He sat back in relief.

"Liara, call the Normandy... I mean the Antietam and tell Chakwas what happened and send her these vitals." He waved his omnitool over hers transferring the data. "Garrus, call C-Sec and tell them what happened. Tell them we need immediate extraction."

"Kaidan, there are ten bodies, two of which were obviously killed by biotics," Wrex told him as he came to his side. "The rest look like they were taken down by a Sniper.

"C-Sec is on the way. When she comes to she is going to be pissed she only got eight of them." Garrus said.

"Chakwas is ready." Liara told them.

Kaidan took her hand. "Shepard, can you hear me?" Kaidan shook her gently, obtaining a slight moan. "Shepard open your eyes." Her lids fluttered but she couldn't seem to keep them open. "I'm here and I am going to get you back to the ship." He told her. She moved her fingers in his and he sighed in relief.

"She is going to need blood, but I think she is going to be okay." Kaidan told them.

"Who fixed her wound?" Garrus asked.

"I don't understand it, but I think it was that Grayston woman. I just saw her as she fled around the corner there." Kaidan pointed.

"Now that's odd, if they wanted her dead, why save her?" Wrex said.

Kaidan frowned. "That is the fifty million credit question."

* * *

Finally back on the Antietam Kaidan sat at Shepard's bedside watching her face and willing her to wake. His hands were balled into fists and he is trying to keep a look of mild worry on his face instead of the intense worry he feels (in case one of the new crew members stops in... or worse, Unwin), he was failing miserably.

"You know, Kaidan, she is going to be fine. She's had her transfusions and I had no trouble doing the repair to the artery since the temporary one held nicely until I got to her. That Grayston woman knew what she was doing." Dr. Chakwas sat at her terminal tapping away as she spoke to him.

"I'll just feel better if she would just wake up."

He leaned forward to be closer to her, then pulled himself back after reminding himself that it wouldn't look right hanging over her. Then he noticed her eyelids flutter. He reached for her hand, then quickly returned his hand to his leg gripping it.

Noticing his conundrum Dr. Chakwas got up and walked over to his side. Anyone who walked into the med bay would not see him right away and he would have time to pull back. She nodded her head at him. He realized what she had meant by her silent signal and he gave her a grateful smile before sitting forward and taking Shepard's hand.

The few moments they watched as her eyelids fluttered and the seconds seemed to go by like a drop of water hanging from an icicle waiting to fall. Finally she opened her eyes and Kaidan sighed in relief. He squeezed her hand gently and let it go. She looked into his eyes.

"Hi." Her voice rasped and she swallowed.

"Hi." He smiled back at her.

"Here have some water Shepard." Dr. Chakwas filled a glass and gave it to her.

After drinking the water Shepard leaned back and looked at him and smiled again, then closed her eyes again.

"The next time she wakes she should be back to normal but weak. Rest for at least twenty-four hours. Forty-eight would be better. I'll just have her take it easy in her cabin."

Kaidan turned and looked at the doctor and was much more relaxed now that Shepard had woke.

"Thank you, Doc. I will see what I can do. It isn't easy to keep her down once she's feeling better."

"I think the weakness will slow her down. The rest of course is up to her."

The doctor returned to her terminal to finish her reports as Kaidan returned to his vigil. Much calmer now that she had woke, the concerned look on his face was much more relaxed and less stressed. He sat back in the chair and waited for her to wake.

* * *

"Would you like to tell me what you were doing off of this ship with no guard?"

Shepard looked up at Kaidan, her eyes seeking his. "No, not right now."

Kaidan heard Doc exit the room leaving them alone.

"Ari, that was damn stupid of you."

"Lucky shot, that's all. Forgot to charge my shields, and forgot to use the medigel again. You really should figure out a way to make that automatic Kaidan, I always forget to use it."

Seeing the grim frown on her face he could tell she was mad at herself, but she wasn't giving an inch.

"That lucky shot almost cost you your life." He snapped then took a deep breath and put his hand on her arm.

"I kind of had my hands full with the seven other mercs not including the one who got me." she looked down, her face in an angry grimace. "I would have gotten all ten of them if the shadows hadn't interfered."

"This time you were lucky they followed you. If they hadn't you'd be dead."

"So she did help me, I was wondering if I remembered that right." She sat up slowly. "She called me by name. They didn't want to hurt the four of you. I think anyway, I can't be sure. Am I cleared, can I go back to my cabin now?"

"Doc says it's okay to return to your cabin, but you have to rest." He reached over to help her off the bed, she still looked pale. "You really scared me Ari, what if we didn't get there in time. Those people could have taken you." He slowly let her go and stepped back, but watched her closely. His furrowed brow and ridged stance mirroring his concern.

"But they saved my life instead." Shepard sighed the words, a hand running over her forehead. "I didn't expect that and I'm not sure how I feel about it, I will have to think on it." Shepard moved toward the door with the haste of a woman who wanted nothing more than to put her weary body to bed.

"Don't go so fast," Kaidan picked up his pace to catch up to her.

Entering her cabin she started pulling off her clothing. She went to the closet and got her simple comfortable sleepwear on.

Pulling her shirt over her head she noticed him watching her like she was going to self destruct any minute. "Kaidan, I am not a porcelain doll, I will not break."

"No, but that doesn't mean I like to see you hurt." He rubbed his forehead.

She reached in and pulled the package she got from Ockorm out of her armor. "Did you clean my guns?"

"Garrus is cleaning them as we speak. Get into bed and I will arrange to get you something to eat."

"You know, I really have a craving for spinach." She climbed into bed.

"High iron food, yes, I am not surprised. I think we have some, I'll get someone to find it for you."

"Okay." Shepard watched him leave.

* * *

Kaidan returned to the cabin with their food. Shepard had been dozing but woke when he walked in. She threw off the blankets and got up from the bed and headed for the table.

"You want to eat in bed? I can get a bed tray from med bay."

"No, I can sit at the table" she seated herself.

"Are you still feeling tired?" He placed all the food on the table.

"A little bit. I think I'll feel better once I eat."

They sat together quietly and enjoyed their meal. Kaidan noticed at one point while chewing her food Ari reached up and smiled lovingly as she touched the locket and then she turned and looked at him. It warmed his heart and he reached over and put his hand on her leg, smiling back in delight. They continued eating exchanging glances or touches now and then but just enjoying the peaceful normalcy of the meal

When they were just about done Kaidan asked "You want to tell me now what you were doing?"

"You're just going to get angry at me. It doesn't matter. It was something I wanted to do by myself and now it's ruined." Shepard turned away.

"So what you purchased, it was destroyed in the fire fight?"

"No, that is not what I meant, never mind."

"Ari, I really want to know what you were doing there and why you felt you had to go alone?"

"I had to go alone because it something I wanted to do alone for myself. It's not important anymore."

"If you felt that it was so important, why didn't you discuss it with me."

"If I discussed it with you, you never would have let me go alone."

"No, I would have fought you on that, you're right. You went to get something. Why won't you tell me what it is that was so important?"

"Because you'll get angry. You're going to tell me it wasn't important, I know you will. But it was important to me and it still is."

"Well why don't you show it to me? I will not be angry."

"I think I need you to promise me that."

"You're telling me to see what you bought, I have to promise I won't get angry?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Kaidan creased his brow.

"Because if you promise me then you can't get angry at me. This is _your_ rule. If you get angry, then I don't have to keep any of my promises." She looked him in the eyes with a small smile on her face. "You have made me make a lot more promises than I have made you make, and mine are much harder to keep."

Kaidan couldn't see any way around it. If he wanted to find out what she had been doing, he would have to promise not to get angry with her. Problem was he was pretty sure whatever she had been doing did not have to be done alone, so yeah he would be angry.

_Maybe I should try reverse psychology_.

"Okay, then, don't tell me." He shrugged.

"Okay, I won't." She kissed his cheek. "Good night." She got up leaving her dishes behind.

_That didn't work quite the way I wanted it to_.

Kaidan gathered the dishes, placing them back on the tray, as Shepard walked to her bed. Leaving the tray on the table, Kaidan followed her. She got into bed and he adjusted the blanket for her. He lay down beside her.

"You're doing it to me again, you know." He placed his hand across her stomach and looked into her face.

"Doing what?" Shepard plucked at the covers.

"You're shutting me out."

"I don't mean to."

"Then tell me why you left the ship."

"You promise first." She looked him in the eyes.

"Ari..."

"No, Kaidan. You make me promise you that I won't do things that I really want to do. You make me promise that I won't do things because they are bad. Okay, so sometimes I know they are bad, like wanting to kill the turian councilor. Sometimes I think the lines are gray." She looked up, her eyes losing focus. "Perhaps I promise because I know it's really something I shouldn't want to do, but I just want to." Returning her full attention to him she looks in his eyes. "For the most part you keep my morals in line. Before I met you I did do some really bad things." A small smile touched her lips. "Lucky for me none of them were as bad as the councilor thing or they don't know it was me who did it. So I understand you are looking out for my best interests." Her smile disappeared and lips pursed and her face took on a hard quality. "I know I am childish, and maybe that is why I went alone, but I am not going to tell you why until you promise you won't get angry at me."

"How about a compromise..." He pointed to his chest. "I promise I will _try_ not to get angry at you and..." then he pointed to her. "You tell me what you went to pick up."

"I counter propose that I _don't_ tell you and I lock you out of the cabin for a week." Giving a small chuckle she tilted her head looking at him and grinning.

"You're not going to give me any leeway on this are you?"

"Well, I could make it two weeks if you'd rather."

Kaidan jumped off the bed and paced as his mind raced. Shepard just lay there watching him. He started to say something several times. Finally he stopped and turned to face her, lips tight, clenching his fists.

"Okay, I promise I won't get angry at you for leaving the ship without a guard and doing your errand." He said through clenched teeth.

"Okay, I went to get you a present."

"What? You put your live in dan..." He had to stop because he was raising his voice. He took several deep breaths. "Couldn't it have waited?"

"Well... I suppose in hind sight, it could have."

"So you admit you should have taken someone with you."

"I admit I should have lost the shadows first." She looked away as if picturing the scene then nodded her head. "I would have been able to take all ten without incident and no one would have been the wiser."

"You would have been..." His voice took on a sharp quality.

She interrupted him calmly as he raised his voice. "If you lose your temper, Kaidan, I will not keep any of the promises I made to you." She shook her head watching him. "Not even the ones I know I really should."

Kaidan looked up and counted to ten. He took several deep breaths trying to center himself and calm down.

_Maybe if I know what she got this will make more sense to me. _

He got back on the bed next to her.

"What did you get for me?"

Shepard reached under her pillow and pulled out a dark colored pouch and handed it to him. He pulled out the silver colored bracelet and looked at it. Then he looked at her, speechless.

"Look on the inside." She said to him with a smile on her face.

He looked inside and saw some words. He rotated the bracelet to find the beginning of the inscription.

It read: 'Kaidan – When you look at this bracelet always remember that I love you. – Ari'. He looked back at her.

"It only opens for you or me like the locket. It is also made from the strongest metal. Now every time you feel like you need to be reminded that I love you, and I am not around to ask or you can't see the locket," she pointed to the bracelet still smiling, "you can look at your wrist."

She reached up and took it from his hands and slid her finger along it to release the catch. She put it on his wrist locking it in place and looked in his eyes.

"See, a perfect fit. No binding and not too loose. Ockorm was right." She waited for him to respond. When he did not she frowned and asked "what, you don't like it?"

Kaidan took her in his arms. "No, I do like it. I appreciate that you wanted to give me something. It's really special. Thank you." He looked over her shoulder and caught sight of the edge of the bracelet on his arm. _I only hope at some point when I look at it I won't always think that it also almost cost me your life._


	16. Recovery Plans

Bioware owns all!

Many thanks to my support group Sesheta, Shenzi and Star. They keep me sane (or at least try).

My extended supporters Sirius, Aslan and now Alenko who keep my mind going and give me lovely feedback.

To my Beta, I can't believe you were okay with it.

Okay for everyone now. I know where we have been... I have an idea of where we are going. I don't know how well you will like it when we get there, but I sure am glad you're along for the ride. For those of you that love Ariana and her Kaidan... I have some things in the works for their future... but we still have to get through their past … so I bring you...

* * *

**Recovery Plans**

"So put your armor on and come with me." Shepard said as she pulled her armor out of the closet and tossed it on the bed, the legs falling off the side.

"Ari, you are not going to march right up to them?" Standing by the bed Kaidan looked at her with a frown on his face brows furrowed with anxiety. He already noticed that she had been up for a while, indicated by the very dry breakfast plates.

"Why not? If they wanted me dead all they had to do was hold you guys off for a few more minutes and I would be dead. Instead she saved my life. I think that has earned them a meeting." She shrugged as she picked up her torso armor.

"How do you know this is not a trick just to get you to trust them? I mean saving you so they can get you to do their bidding?" He rubbed his head trying to think of arguments to get her to rest more, but came up empty.

"Right, they arranged for me to forget to charge my shield." Grabbing her heart she shoved it under her shirt before pulling on her torso armor and secured it. "Then they had a crack shot merc, with no regard to his own life, shoot me in the leg and made sure that it cut through my artery in the perfect way to bleed out but be easily fixed with a field kit." She rolled her eyes at him shaking her head as she went to attach her forearm armor to the chest plate.

"That is not what I meant and you know it! You can't go anywhere near them, Ari. Let me go. I can talk to them." He grabbed the armor from her hands.

"Why would they talk to you?" She put her hands on her hips facing him.

"Well, I don't know that they would, but it is worth a try. You need to get rest. It has barely been a day. Your system is still weak. Doc says you should rest for at least two days. You have me, Garrus and the rest of the crew. Use us to find out what they want." He sat down on the bed in front of her with her arm armor on his lap and looked up at her. "I can help, Ari, you know I can."

"I like doing things for myself. Look, I don't want to argue with you, I just think it is important that I do it myself. Now if you want to fight about it we can. You will lose, and that would mean I would have to torture you for it."

He smiled up at her. "You probably would win too. Really, Ari, maybe we can invite them here."

"I don't think I want them on my ship. In fact I am pretty sure I don't. I don't see what the problem is if I just go out and talk to them. I mean how strenuous can it be? It's not like I have never been shot before." She held her hand out to him for her armor. "I feel fine."

He activated his omnitool. "Your blood pressure is still a bit low. No temperature to speak of. Still, you should rest like Dr. Chakwas said to."

"Sure, if you're going to check the numbers something is going to be off. She always tells me to rest and you always agree with her. I feel fine and I don't need any more rest, Kaidan." She walked over to her other arm on the bed and picked it up and started attaching it.

"Can't it wait twenty-four hours? I mean what's waiting a day going to change?" He put the arm armor behind him so she couldn't reach it and stood up walking towards her.

"Well, I don't know if it's going to change anything." Having finished attaching the arm she walked over and bent down to pick up her leg armor, he raced to catch her as she stood up and almost fell backwards and dropped the armor.

"See!" He picked her up and placed her on the bed.

"It was nothing, I just got up too fast." She pushed herself up to get up off the bed.

Quickly sitting on the bed he wrapped his arms around her preventing her from getting up. "Shepard, this is dangerous and you know it. I can't have you putting yourself in danger like this." He placed his forehead against hers "I don't know what I would do if something happened to you. You almost died yesterday. At least give it a few days, let us work out a plan."

"You said one day." She pulled back and looked in his eyes with a frown on her face.

"That was before you almost passed out by just reaching down to pick up your armor. How about this, you rest today and we will see how you're feeling in the morning. We have Garrus come in and we formulate a plan. But you stay in bed and rest." He sat up and undid the arm and pulled it off her.

"You have Garrus, Wrex, Liara and Tali if she can leave the engine rooms come in and we will talk about it." She looked in his eyes as he unsecured the torso armor and then she wiggled out of it.

"Agreed, we will talk about it and decide how we will approach them and what precautions to take." He got up and collected her armor and then shoved it back into her closet. "How about I have someone get you something to eat too?"

She turned and piled the extra pillows she insisted on having on the bed behind her and leaned back into them. "Yes, I think that would be fine. Maybe some grape juice too, I feel like having some."

"You want sandwiches or a meal?"

"Soup and sandwich, I think. Maybe some cheese with protein on it or something like that."

"Okay, I will see what they can do. I will be back shortly after I talk to the others."

He stood there for a moment and watched her settle herself and close her eyes. He walked to the door and left the room. Once the door closed he leaned against the wall and rubbed his eyes taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. That was way too easy which meant she was weaker then she was letting on. He decided he would talk to the others first and then bring her meal himself. Hopefully she would drift off while he was gone and get some much needed rest. His mind made up, he set off to look for Garrus.

* * *

Unwin watched the Lieutenant walk away from the Commanders cabin as she took a bite of her sandwich. He hadn't been in there that long this time. Well, she was still recovering from being shot. Looking down at the data pad in her hands but not registering the words there, she remembered her conversation with Jeff last night. Trying to steal a few minutes alone with him and they ended up talking about Shepard.

"_So you eat dinner with them every night Jeff, why not have dinner with me?" _

"_It's our way. Listen, Shepard likes to keep her team close. We eat dinner, lunch and sometimes even breakfast together. During that time we talk about the things that need to be done. It's like an impromptu meeting."_

"_I notice that I am not invited to these meetings." She frowns looking away from him._

"_She doesn't trust you yet, Ouis." He shrugged and she looked back at him creasing her brow and opening her mouth to speak, he put his hand up to forestall her. "Listen, it takes time for Shepard to trust someone. It took Kaidan and Garrus a long time to get her to open up to the rest of us. She took them on quite a few missions before she would even talk to them about anything other than the actual missions themselves." He rubbed her arm comforting her. __"Believe me, she was a real bitch when she first got here. She would snap at the littlest thing. Her temper is legendary but let me tell you, it used to be worse."_

"_She seems to get along with you fine now." Her voice was sharp, her frown deepening._

"_Yeah, well saving her ass several times with a smile certainly helped. Getting her down on Ilos... and yeah blowing up Sovereign. All those things helped." He took her hand in his. "Ouis when the Normandy was going down, she saved my life. I wasn't going to leave the cockpit and she just came and pulled me out." He touched her cheek at to calm her as her eyes got wide and a look of fear came to her face. "Yes, and she almost didn't make it because of me. She just barely got the door closed with herself inside. If she didn't know me and had hesitated instead of grabbing me... she would be dead. I live every day now knowing that I am alive because she knows me for who I am." He took both her hands in his. "Ouis, she is a great Commander, but she is also a great friend. I know you don't see it right now, you see a woman who can make your life miserable, and believe me, she can. But she can also be a good person. I believe we helped do that to her by being her friend. Just give it time okay." He looked up into her eyes giving her hands a squeeze._

"_Well, what was she doing that she got shot yesterday?" She let go of his hands and crossed her arms. "On the Citadel, no less." _

"_Yeah, well, those things tend to happen to her. The first time we were here I think she got into no less than four firefights, and she wasn't even a Spectre yet."_

"_Okay, but how did the others know she was in trouble? The Lieutenant, the turian, the krogan and that asari..." she said the last and her nose crinkled in disgust._

"_Hey, you're not jealous of Liara, are you?" He smiled at her and tilted his head to the side._

"_Why would you say that?" She said a little too fast._

"_Hey, listen, I won't say she isn't pretty and all, but Ouis... she isn't you." He smiled and pulled her into his arms._

"_But how did they know, Jeff? They went rushing out of here. How did they know?" She snuggled into his arms, but she couldn't let it go._

"_I don't think they did know. I think they just didn't think it was a good idea that she be alone." He kissed her cheek._

"_For that she needed the four of them to go?" She lifted her head searching his face._

"_Like I said, trouble tends to follow her. I guess they all went as a precaution. It turns out they were needed so..." He didn't make eye contact with her._

"_You are hiding something. Tell me." She pulled out of his arms._

"_I am not hiding anything, Ouis. There are just some things I can't share with you, that's all. They aren't mine to share." He crossed his arms and looked at her. "You are just going have to accept that right now this is all you can get." _

"Lieutenant?"

Unwin looked up into Lieutenant Alenko's eyes. "Yes sir?"

"There is going to be a meeting this afternoon in the Commander's cabin that I have to attend. We are expecting several big shipments today so I need you to assist the cargo officer to get everything checked in and to the right places. He is still shorthanded, well we all are for that matter."

"Certainly sir, no problem."

He nodded at her and turned and headed for the med bay and went inside. She checked her crono and saw she had about ten minutes left for her break. She looked around the room but there weren't many people around. Then the Lieutenant came out of the med bay, the doctor behind him with a kit in her hand. He went towards the elevator and the doctor headed for the Commander's cabin. Unwin got up and placed her used dishes in the cleaning chute and headed for CIC. She was thinking that it was too bad she couldn't work from the mess. You saw so much more there then in CIC.

* * *

Dr. Chakwas entered the Commander's cabin and walked over to the bed. Shepard was sleeping and still appeared pale, not that she wasn't normally pale to begin with. Activating her omnitool the doctor took some readings. It looked like her blood iron was still a bit low as well as her pressure but her white blood count wasn't overly high so no sign of infections. Red blood count in normal range but still on the low side. She should be fine in a day or two. Readying a vitamin shot with iron she put in on the table at the side for Kaidan to administer when the Commander woke. The doctor didn't want to interrupt the sleep the Commander obviously needed. Taking a last look at the Commander's face the doctor smiled to herself thinking that the Commander didn't look half as dangerous as she was when she was sleeping. Turning she quietly left the cabin.

* * *

Arranging with everyone to meet in Shepard's cabin had taken him a while, but at least Dr. Chakwas had gone and checked on her. She had been sleeping he was glad to hear. He went to pick up the lunch he had them prepare for her adding his to the order so that he wouldn't have to leave her before the meeting. He entered her cabin quietly and put the lunch on the table leaving the heat seals in place to keep it warm. He walked over to the bed and looked down at her face. She looked so peaceful when she slept and her mind wasn't planning great campaigns of damage and destruction. Or at least her torture sessions. He smiled to himself, yes she really did enjoy teasing him.

A frown came to his face as he realized she hadn't been doing that lately. The last time was weeks ago, when they first got the Antietam, that shower thing. Well maybe it was the new crew. Something had changed, that was for sure. She moved and took his attention away from his thoughts.

She opened her eyes and looked at him and smiled.

"Did my lunch come?" She stretched.

"Yes." He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. "It's on the table. Doc was here and left a vitamin shot for me to give you."

"Why was Doc here, Kaidan?" She frowned at him. "You run and tell her that I almost passed out?"

"No, I didn't 'run and tell her' that you almost passed out." He sat down on the bed next to her. "I did ask her to check on you that's all." He took her hand in his. "You just seemed a little weak, I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something."

"Like you could." She shook her head at him. "Fine give me the shot and let's eat." Pulling her hand out of his she threw the blanket off and moved to the edge of the bed offering her arm to him.

"Well, vitamin shots go better in the butt." He smiled and tilted his head at her.

"Don't you even try it Alenko, I am not so weak that I can't still knock you on your ass." she folded her arms with a stern look on her face.

He laughed. "Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying. Here give me your arm." Standing up he reached for the shot and gave it to her. Disposing of the empty hypo he pulled her up into his arms and gave her a hug. He then walked her over to the table and as she sat he opened the heat seals on her soup and his meal.

"Did you arrange for Garrus to come here?" She picked up her sandwich and took a bite.

"Yes, Wrex and Liara too. Tali and Adams have several parts showing up today that should increase engine speed so they are going to be busy." He took some bread and folded it in half using it to push some food onto his fork.

"We really have to find something to increase shielding on the ship too. The attackers were able to cut through our shields like butter. We need to make sure that doesn't happen again. The fact that they were able to track us when stealth systems were engaged means they are either way advanced, or they were looking for us. You have to get them to step up the pace on these upgrades, Kaidan, I want to get moving again." She took a spoonful of soup and blew on it before putting it in her mouth.

"Alright, I will see what I can do." He took a bite of the bread and a fork full of food.

He watched her concentrate on her food as she quietly ate. He kept eating also, but noticed that her hand shook a little as she ate her soup. Finishing the piece of bread he put his hand down on the table and saw her look at the bracelet on his wrist then she turned to him and smiled putting her hand over his. He smiled back taking her hand in his and bringing it to his lips and kissing it gently before releasing it so she could continue eating. He continued to eat but kept an eye on her movements and did see that as she ate more the shaking diminished. By the time she finished her meal she had some color in her face and seemed stronger.

She got up and went back over to the bed without being asked to his surprise and she packed the pillows so she could sit in bed and then climbed in and put the blanket back on. He packed up the dishes and put them back on the tray and went out to the mess and dropped them in the chute. He walked by and grabbed more juice for them both and some milk for her and headed back to her cabin.

When he entered he went over to his closet and opened in and reached into a bag that was there and pulled something out. Shepard watched him curiously as he walked over to the bed and handed her the milk.

"I got you some milk and this." He held out a stick of chocolate for her.

"Oh, Kaidan, I am really not in an emotional talking mood." She turned away from him.

"No, no talking, just dessert. I just thought you might like a little chocolate. No strings attached."

She looked up into his eyes. "Really no talking?"

"No talking." He picked up her hand and placed the chocolate in it. " Just eating, okay?"

"Sure, I like chocolate, thanks." Opening the wrapper she took a bite and slowly chewed the sweet. She then took a sip of the milk.

Seeing that she was enjoying the treat and would finish it, Kaidan walked over to the table and started to move the chairs around the bed for the meeting. Setting up the juice where she could reach it when she wanted he looked around to see if there was anything else that needed to be done.

"God, I feel like a queen in a throne room." She was looking at the chairs around the bed.

Feeling an argument coming Kaidan walked over to the bed. "Now, Ari, you agreed to stay in bed if I got everyone to come here."

"I know, I was just saying it felt weird, that's all." She relaxed back into the pillows.

He sat down and opened his mouth to ask where the real Shepard was when the cabin door opened, he turned and saw Garrus walking in.

"So how are you feeling, Commander?" Garrus walked over and took a seat.

"I am feeling much better thank you. Hey, Garrus, we have to come up with some new weapons. I want something that can knock our attackers on their ass. You keep up with the latest weapons tech, anything new we can use?"

"Some stuff still in development, nothing concrete yet, but I will keep my ears open." He turned and looked at the door as Wrex came in.

"Yes, that would help. I guess I will have to search for more resources." Kaidan groaned and she stuck her tongue at him before continuing. "Cutting edge tech is going to be expensive. It won't hurt to be prepared." She pointed to Kaidan. "You can always stay on the ship and I will go with someone else."

"Not without me, you're not." Garrus pointed to her. "That mako is brand new and I am not letting you ruin it." He folded his hands across his chest.

"Hey I'm with Alenko, if you want to go careening up mountains looking for rocks I am staying here." Wrex said sitting down next to Kaidan.

"I didn't say I wanted to, I said it was necessary." She adjusted the blanket with a frown on her face and then looked up as Liara came into the room.

"That's right, pretend you don't love going up and down mountains in that thing. Both Garrus and you love to push that damn thing to its limits." Kaidan leaned back in the chair and folded his arms smiling at her.

"Shepard, how are you feeling?" Liara said moving her chair closer to the bed before sitting in it.

"I am feeling fine, Liara. Okay, so everyone is here. Garrus, if you could fill Tali in later let's begin. I want to contact the Shadows and find out why they are following me and what they what."

A chorus of "What?" "No!" and "You can't!" came from Garrus, Wrex and Liara. Shepard waited for them to calm down, glaring at Kaidan when she saw the smirk on his face right before he cleared it to neutrality.

"Okay, now if they wanted me dead, I would be dead. She saved me and I think that earns her a meeting." She glared at Kaidan again waiting for him to say something.

"Shepard, just because she saved your life doesn't make her a good person to meet with." Wrex said.

"I don't see why you have to meet with her. Couldn't you just drop her a note or something? Why do you have to put yourself in danger?" Liara asked her.

"You can't tell if someone is lying to you in a note, Liara. I think they want to contact me. Why they haven't tried probably has to do with the fact that I am never alone when I leave the ship." Shepard picked at the blanket.

"And after what happened yesterday, that is not going to change anytime soon, either." Kaidan's stern face brooked no argument.

"Can we at least discuss the fact that we have no idea who these people are? We have been watching them for what a week or two. No one has gotten any closer to their real identities." Wrex looked at Garrus. "You would think that C-Sec could have come up with something by now."

"Information is only as good as the contacts themselves. I don't think they are getting anywhere because it's human colonies that these people are from." Garrus said looking at Shepard.

"Why did the Alliance engineers have to play with the engines? Tali has not had any time to search on this stuff." Shepard banged on a pillow. "It doesn't matter, I think the direct approach is the way to go here. I will just walk up to them and ask them." She crossed her arms.

"Yeah, still not loving that idea Shepard." Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe they didn't know that you would be attacked, and they couldn't have known where you were going, but I still think this could be a set up. I mean, maybe they didn't want you to get hurt as bad as you did. We don't know that they weren't part of the attack." He leaned forward on his leg.

"We don't know they weren't part of the attack, but they did try and help me, so it doesn't feel right. I mean they tried to help me by attacking the assailants, before I was shot. They did kill a couple of them right?" Shepard looked around for someone to answer her.

"Right, two of the bodies were killed by biotics." Wrex nodded at her.

"Well, there, then, would they have attacked their own men?" She turned to Kaidan.

"I think they might, yes. You are a hard woman to get to, they would need extreme means to get to you. I think killing their own people is not a far stretch for that." Kaidan sat back in the chair and folded his arms.

"No, that's stretching it a bit far, I think. So I want to walk up to them and ask them questions. What strategy can you work out for me to do that, because people, that is what I am doing." Shepard leaned back into her pillows crossed her arms and waited.

"We need to set up as many people observing as we can. You need to make sure they don't ask you to go anywhere else." Garrus leans forward making notes on a data pad that he picked up from her table. "If it's just a meet and greet then treat it as such. Take two people with you. Have one person be distracted so you can see if they take advantage of that. The other should be hyper-vigilant as to be the threat. We can see how they react to this and if they will even talk to you at all."

"Well, Kaidan has already played that he is interested in her body, so he can be the distracted one..." Shepard started.

"Hey, I didn't say I would go along with this idea." Kaidan interrupted her.

"Fine, Liara can do distracted just as easily as you can." Shepard waved her hand in his direction.

"Now, wait a minute." Kiadan pinched his nose between his eyes for a minute before looking at Shepard. "Fine, you want to walk up to them, then I am going to be standing right next to you. You want distracted, I will do distracted."

"Good, it would work better since you have already indicated that you like what you saw. Now, Garrus, I think you would be best as the second person." Shepard smiled sweetly at him "No one can do hyper-vigilant as well as you can. Wrex, you, Liara and Tali will have to take up positions around the area where they are stationed. You must stay out of sight, but have a good line of sight if needed."

"Right, I will scout the area tonight and see what the best positions are. We can take some extra crew men and stake them out in the dock area so it looks like we are stepping up security. C-Sec has already sent over some personnel to keep an eye on the dock area." Wrex said.

"Wait, why did C-Sec send personnel over?" Shepard sat up.

"I would think it was because a Spectre was shot." Liara said.

"It doesn't look good for them not to act on that Shepard. You know how the press can be." Garrus added.

"The press? You couldn't keep this secret?" Shepard threw herself back into the pillows.

"We needed C-Sec to extract you quickly and safely." Kaidan reached for some juice.

"No, you didn't, you could have gotten me out." Shepard glared at him.

"Not going to argue it. You were unconscious. I was in charge. C-Sec was called. It's done." Kaidan gulped his juice then put it back on the table.

"Shepard, you lost a lot of blood, it was the right call." Garrus said.

"You always stick up for him. Fine. Wrex you will now have to figure out a way to get rid of any cameras the press may have around too." Shepard sat up again. "Tali can probably help with that, you know, render them inoperable."

"Yes, I think she has something that should work rather well for that." Wrex claps his hands once. "I would love to see the look on the reporter's faces when they try to watch the data feed."

"So Liara, you and Wrex figure out the best places to station everyone, Garrus and Kaidan with me. That's how we are going to work this." Shepard lay back in her pillows.

"When are we going to do this?" Garrus asked.

"We'll need a day or two to set things up." Wrex looked at Shepard.

"Fine, shoot for the day after tomorrow. That should make Doc and Kaidan happy, it seems I am supposed to be resting." Frowning Shepard closes her eyes.

Wrex gets up and heads for the door. "Come on, Liara, let's see what we can spot today."

Liara stood up "Certainly Wrex." She pats Shepard's legs. "Feel better, Shepard." Shepard just waved at her.

They left the room together.

"Is there anything else I need to do?" Garrus looked at his data pad.

"Update Tali and see if C-Sec has uncovered any information on the Shadows. I'll check with the Alliance again." Kaidan stood up and walked Garrus to the door.

"Will do, I'll check in with you later, Kaidan." Garrus heads out the door.

Kaidan put the chairs back where they belonged and walked back over to the bed. He stood there and looked lovingly down on Shepard.

"I know you're pissed that I got C-Sec involved, but you are a Spectre. You work for the Council. They are the Council security. We didn't know if there were any other assailants around that might be on the way. I needed to get you back to the ship quickly, it was my best option." Kaidan crossed his arms in front of him waiting for her wrath.

"You were in charge, it was a command decision. I will not question it." Shepard said without opening her eyes.

He gets on the bed and lay next to her. "But you would have made a different decision."

She reaches down and takes his hand. "I don't know that I would have made a different decision or not. All I can think is that if you were injured I would want to get help to you quickly. I assume that was your thinking. But I am not going to question your decision, Kaidan. I trust your command abilities. I just don't want the press around."

Kaidan took her in his arms and gave her a hug. Letting her go he stood up.

"Well, I have to get back to work and see if I can get more information out of the Alliance."

"Check and see if they have gotten any further in the new shielding." Shepard adjusted the pillows so she was lying down instead of sitting back on the bed.

"Alright. Do you want me to come back for dinner?"

"Yes, and bring Doc. This way you can both watch me for signs of decay while I eat." She smiled at him.

"Alright, I will bring Doc. Try and get some more rest. Call me if you need me."

"I always need you, Kaidan." Her voice sounded sleepy.

"That's good to know" He kissed her on her forehead and then left her to rest.

Shepard was asleep before the door closed.


	17. Healing?

Bioware owns all!

This one is for Alenko... She has been waiting patiently.

For Sesh & Siri... You know why.

For Shenzi, Star, Ruby, Jane & Aslan because you get me through... everything else.

Well We are kind of stalled... an injury is nothing to be trifled with so let's see how Shepard deals with it... she isn't known as the most patient person... It's time for some...

* * *

**Healing?**

Shepard sat up in bed, the last thing she remembered was eating dinner with Kaidan and Dr. Chakwas. She had finished and was listening to them talk about some new treatment for Joker that might increase bone density (whatever that meant). She must have fallen asleep. At the dinner table? Now how did that happen? She threw back the covers and got out of the bed. She still didn't feel like herself. They said that she was healing but she still felt weak. She must be getting old, getting shot had never effected her this way before. When she was shot in the hip she was up the next day. Okay, she couldn't run for a while, but she wasn't lounging in bed for a day, almost two. Could low blood iron really make her tired? Damn, the two people she could ask were sleeping. Maybe they drugged her? No, she had been cooperating, more likely they bored her to sleep.

She pulled on sweat pants over her shorts and put on a robe. It was late enough into sleep watch so there wouldn't be so many crewmen around. She just needed to get out of the cabin. She went out to the mess and there was no one around. She went to the dispenser and chose a hot meat broth. Taking the cup she wrapped both her hands around it and smiled as she enjoyed the warmth it brought to them. She went over to the table and sat down.

She brought the soup to her lips and sipped. It was still a little too hot. Going over the events of the past few days in her mind, she reached for her heart locket. Kaidan's heart really, since he gave it to her.

"Devious" She mumbled to herself.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" Unwin must have just came down from CIC.

"Nothing. I was just thinking of someone trying to … never mind." She took a deep breath and let it out. "I was just talking to myself." Shepard shoved the heart under her t-shirt.

"How are you feeling, Commander?" Unwin stood at the end of the table but had not sat down.

"I am feeling okay." She certainly wasn't going to share with someone she hardly knew how she really felt.

"Commander, do you mind if I get a cup of coffee and join you?"

"Wouldn't drinking coffee now keep you awake?"

"To be honest I don't really have that problem, caffeine doesn't really affect me. How about you, won't drinking coffee keep you awake?" Unwin pointed to the cup in Shepard's hand.

"It's meat broth. I like to drink it because it relaxes me." She took a sip of the broth.

"Actually that sounds good, so mind if I get a cup of broth and join you?"

"No, I don't mind." Shepard took another sip, it was still a bit too hot.

Unwin got her broth and sat across from Shepard.

"Commander, I was wondering what are we looking for exactly?" She smelled the broth and smiled at the aroma.

"I am sure that was covered in your briefing, Lieutenant Unwin."

"Yes, but I would like to hear your take on it, Ma'am. They say you don't always look at things the same way as other people do. I was also told you like your crew to speak freely."

"That's true enough. We are looking for the power behind the attack on the Normandy and we believe they are also behind the kidnapping of the human biotics. We have been calling them the Attackers." Shepard stopped for a moment contemplating her broth. "You know I don't like that name, it has fearful connotations. I think we need to call them something else."

"Well like what Commander, they did attack the Normandy, they did kill a lot of people." She watched Shepard playing with her cup.

"Yes they did. I think they need a name that identifies them but doesn't bring the heartache and fear we felt into the picture." Shepard thought about it. It seemed they should be able to call them something that stood for what they did. An acronym or something like it. If she could think of a few words to describe them and take the letters from those words, then she could create a word that took some of the fear away from the evil that they were. A few things went through her head as Unwin watched her and sipped her broth. She finally had some candidates. She sounded them out for Unwin. "Maybe we could try 'Overpowered Idiot Destroyers' or OIDs for short. Oh, how about "Silly Alien Normandy Destroyers' or SANDs." Shepard was starting to get into it and smiled at Unwin.

"Well you could call them 'Normandy Alien Idiot Destroyers' or NAIDs or you could use 'Alien Normandy Attackers' and call them ANA." Unwin smiled at the Commander. "What's scary about ANA?"

"Oh I have It "Destroying Aliens of My Ship"- DAMS!" Shepard started laughing but suddenly stopped holding her head as she got a bit dizzy.

"Are you alright Commander?" Unwin reached over to her.

"Yes I am okay, just a little weak still I guess. So should we call them DAMS?"

"Well we could call them that, Commander." Unwin didn't seem so sure.

"You're right, it might not go over well with the Brass. Okay well how about SADS 'Silly Alien Destroyed my Ship'" Shepard leaned back against the chair and smiled at Unwin.

"I think that works in several ways, Commander...SADS..." Looked away thinking about it before turning back to Shepard. "Yes Commander I think that would work nicely."

"Thank you for helping me in working it out Lieutenant Unwin. Now to return to your question; What do I want? I want to know why take only human biotics? Why not asari or turian or krogan for that matter?" Shepard contemplated her cup of broth. "There is a mystery there and we need to solve it. There is certainly something tying them together, and if we can figure out what it is maybe we can prevent more people from disappearing. To start with anyway."

"To start with?"

"We have people to rescue. At least, I hope we do. These SADS they're more advanced than we are. They found the Normandy despite her stealth systems and they were able to get up close and personal and put people in stasis. I don't understand if they are so advanced what is it that they are looking for. The more information we collect the closer we get to finding answers."

"But you have an idea, I think that you see something more in these attacks then the attacks themselves."

"Yes, I do think there is something... more. I think they are testing our abilities and trying to learn everything they can about our strengths. I think there is something behind the attack on the Normandy, too. I think they were looking for her."

"Why?"

"To be honest it isn't anything that I can point to, I wish there was." She took a sip of her broth again. "I want to say it's a feeling, but it's more than that. I think it has something to do with the Normandy being the ship that took down Sovereign. They wanted to destroy that specific ship."

"Don't you think that is a bit prideful?" Unwin took a sip from her cup but took too much and then blew air out of her mouth trying to cool the broth in her mouth.

"You know, Unwin, it might be. Like I said, I don't have any proof or evidence for that matter. There is just something…" Shepard shrugged and took a deep breath pressing her lips together and putting her broth down before speaking. "There is just something that ties it together in my head." She made clawing gestures at her head before relaxing back in her chair.

"So the Council and the Alliance are just going to let you go searching for these elusive SADS?" Unwin's voice held a lilt of disbelief.

Shepard leaned forward and tapped her finger on the table to stress her point. "Believe me, when the Council has something for us to investigate they have no problem telling us to divert course to here or there to investigate whatever." She folded her hands on the table. "The Alliance does it, too, for that matter. They did it while we were searching for Saren, they'll do it again now. I am a Spectre and as much as people think that we are an entity unto ourselves we answer to the Council, and I answer to the Alliance." Shepard frowned before picking up her broth and finishing it off.

"I was talking with Lieutenant Moreau about you, Commander, and he thinks you have a little something special inside you. He thinks rather highly of you." Unwin took a sip of her broth looking over the rim of her cup at Shepard.

"Do you have a question or is that just an observation?" Shepard creased her eyebrows in query.

"I was just wondering if what he saw in you was valid." Unwin took another sip of her broth.

"Well, you have been studying me to the point of distraction since you got here. What do you think?" Shepard played with her cup watching Unwin's reaction.

"I thought I was being inconspicuous, Commander. I obviously underestimated your skills of observation." She looked at her cup of broth for a minute in thought before answering. "I think the Lieutenant is right, I think there is something about you. You have something that inspires people to follow you. There is something very compelling about you, Ma'am."

"Really, Lieutenant? I'm just a woman like you. There isn't really anything special about me. I'm like a child with a bad temper. I just happen to have an adult body around me." Shepard stopped playing with her cup and sat back in the chair. "Sometimes I think people just want me to be special so they can justify some of the things I've done. They're wrong you know, for most of the things I have done, mistakes were made."

"Mistakes are always made, it's the good Commanders that takes advantage of them."

"Right, so there isn't anything special about me, I am just good at fixing things, like a handy man. I am the universe's handy man." She smiled at Unwin.

"Obviously the universe needs one." Unwin finished her broth.

"Well, then isn't it good that I fit the bill?" Shepard stood up. "Lieutenant, it been really nice talking to you."

"It was nice talking to you too, Commander, maybe we could do it again sometime?"

"You know, I think we might just do that. You sleep well." Shepard headed to her cabin.

Entering her cabin she walked over to the closet. She took off her robe and hung it up then started to take off her sweats and she almost fell. She shook her head trying to clear it and guessed that she was still feeling a bit lightheaded. She sat on the bed and finished taking off the sweatpants before dropping them on the floor, then crawled up to the pillows, climbing under the blankets. There was a sharp pain in her leg. She must have strained the wound or something. She reached over to the bedside table where Doc had left her some pain killers and she took one then settled down to get some sleep.

* * *

Kaidan went over to the Commander's door and noticed she hadn't unlocked it yet. That was odd, she usually rose pretty early. He pressed the chime and waited for her to answer. Still getting no response he pushed in the code she gave him into his omnitool and the door opened. He entered the room and saw her sweatpants on the floor and knew she must have been up during the night. He walked over and picked them up, since like most marines he preferred things neat. She wasn't that picky, but tolerated his neatness. He folded them and put them in her closet and went to check on her. He noticed her hair was matted to her forehead and she was pale again. He pulled up her stats on his tool and noticed that her temperature had skyrocketed overnight. He activated his comm.

"Dr. Chakwas, I need you in the Commander's Cabin. She has a high temperature and I'm pretty sure she has an infection."

"Be right there, Lieutenant."

He went over to the bed and sat down beside her and touched her face. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Kaidan, I don't feel so good." She shook her head and her eyelids closing half way.

"Yeah, I am not surprised. You're running a fever. Possibly you have an infection." He pushed her hair back off her forehead.

"Both you and Doc said I wasn't showing signs of infection." She pulled the blanket up to her neck.

"Well, something changed because you weren't." He looked in her eyes and pushed her hair back again.

"You missed something… I was wrong." She cuddled under the blanket and closed her eyes as he chuckled and then turned to the door as he heard the doctor enter.

Activating her omnitool and she approced the bed, she checked the readings. Pulling open the case she brought in she opened the portable scanner.

"Take the blanket off and straighten her leg." Kaidan did as Doc told him and she scanned the area. "It looks like a ruptured abscess that must have grown very quickly. Let's get her into med bay and I can drain it and hopefully find what's causing it." She prepared a shot and gave it to Shepard. Kaidan lifted Shepard in his arms and she didn't wake. He walked to the door with the doctor following. Luckily for them no one was in the mess to witness the Commander being carried to the med bay.

While Dr. Chakwas cleared the infected area she found a sliver of something really small and thin like a hair in the wound. She put it aside to analyze later. She set up an antibiotic drip that ran the spectrum until her investigation was over and they could target the infection. Shepard had slept fitfully through the whole process.

Once Shepard was resting more comfortably Dr. Chakwas went to work. Walking over to a small panel in the wall she waved her omnitool over it and it opened. She pulled out two crescent shaped objects, one a bit larger and bulkier then the other. She took the larger of the two and slipped it over her omnitool manipulating it until she heard it snap into place and the mild hum that said it was powering up. She then handed Kaidan the smaller object and he duplicated her moves sliding the piece over his tool until it clicked into place. These were the medical diagnostic tools they would use to analyze the item found in Shepard's wound.

Taking the foreign object that she had removed from the wound she placed it in a tray and using a miniature laser cutter divided it into several small sections. She took a tiny receptacle and placed one of the pieces inside and handed it to Kaidan. He took the container and went over to a cabinet. He took out a small tray that had a sanitary seal over it and some clear non descrip gel smeared across it. He removed the seal and dropped the piece of hair like substance on the gel. He carried it over to the desk and sat down watching as the gel expanded as it covered the foreign object.

"What do you want it set to?" He looked at the doctor.

"Across the board, I don't know what we are dealing with." She was examining the object and didn't look up at him.

Kaidan switched on the terminal in front of him and moved his hands across it several times. A virtual rectangle that was indistinct other than it's shape appeared on the desk. He placed the tray with the gel onto it. Activating his omnitool there was a white addition to the normal golden glow of the tools virtual mechanisms. Accessing this section Kaidan tapped and adjusted entering parameters and looked down at the gel. He watched as the data link glowed and the gel started to go through several colors of the spectrum as the system sent the inquiry data to the gel. It would take a while before the analysis was complete so Kaidan went over to watch the doctor work.

Dr. Chakwas had taken the pieces of the object that she had sectioned and walked over to an area of the wall that opened up and slid out a platform with four gel trays in virtual cradles. Skipping the first tray she put a piece of the foreign substance in both the second and the last tray. Kaidan joined her as she activated her omnitool and there was now a pale green addition to the virtual instruments on her tool. Manipulating the new controls the second tray lit up and a display appeared over head. As she worked the controls a picture appeared showing a black line that then started growing as she zoomed in. It grew from a fleck to a lump to a large bar that ran the length of the screen. They didn't notice anything at first but as the bar grew and filled up the screen it started taking shape.

"That looks like a chain of some type. A twisted chain. But it isn't telling me what it is. We are going to need to get more magnification." Her brow furrowed, she sucked in her lower lip for a moment.

Her fingers flew over the new section of her tool and the last tray now lit up. The gel in the tray pulsated and spread changing from dark gray to light gold to pure white. Finally it settled on a transparent clear with a bright light shining through it. The screen flickered and now the chain looked twisted. As the magnification increased it looked more and more like the spiral ladder that was the trademark image of DNA.

A puzzled look came to the doctor's face. "That's odd, it resembles _human_ DNA. It definitely looks manufactured and not natural because it's too smooth whatever it is. I'll pull up the analysis and see what it says." She tapped some on her tool and some figures came up and a bunch of ordered pairs that read as DNA.

"If it is DNA, then whose? We'll check everyone on the ship first. We have those on file." Kaidan walked back over to the terminal and started tapping on it.

The doctor walked up next to him. "Then we'll have to go through the Alliance data base and then ask the Council..." The terminal pinged and a file came up. It was Shepard's. "Probability match ninety-eight point seven percent that it's Shepard's DNA"

"That isn't Shepard's hair, Doc, it's not even the right color."

"I know, Kaidan, but it was ingenious really. My scans couldn't tell the difference between that bit of synthetic hair thing and Shepard's DNA... there wasn't enough of a difference to show up on a quick scan. It made it possible for me to miss it and left it in place long enough to fester and hit her hard."

"It makes sense, if you wanted to hide it on a scan using her DNA would do it. How did they get her DNA though DOC?"

"Shepard's DNA is in the data base as well as everyone elses. They could have hacked the system. They could have followed her and picked up something she dropped. It would be hard, but not impossible. Pull up the analysis of the string." She tapped his shoulder.

He tapped several more times and a scientific notation showed up on the screen.

"Well, it does look like an infection. A nasty one. Since they had her DNA they should have been able to engineer it to be unusually strong against her natural defenses. This gave it the extra strength to attack her body quickly. With this I should be able to formulate an antibiotic cocktail that will clear it out of her system."

"But, Doc, that means that bullet was not needed to kill, it would have caused a problem even if it only grazed her. She was definitely the target."

"Yes, that we can be sure of, she was the target. Did C-Sec collect the guns and ammo from the scene? I would love to get some of those rounds intact so I can find out more about the delivery system." She reached down and tapped some keys brining up the fiber analysis again so she could look at it.

He nodded his head. "I believe they did, I will contact them and see what I can get from them."

"First off though, I will have to start working on the antibiotic cocktail. I may have to contact the local clinics for obscure antibiotics they might have on hand that we don't have on the ship. It might be better to move her to the clinic." He stood up relinquishing the chair and she slid into place in front of the terminaland started tapping away.

"No Doc, if she's the target we can protect her better here." Kaidan went over to the bed, leaned over Shepard and took her hand in his and holding it to his chest. He stood there and watched her breath for a few minutes. He just wanted to stay here until she woke up, but he knew he had to take some action. "I have some things I have to do, you take care of her for me, Doc, okay?"

"That I will do, Kaidan." She continued to tap away at the terminal.

He leaned down pushed her hair back off her head. He caressed her cheek and kissed her gently on the forehead. He put he hand under the blanket before turning and heading to the door.

"Call me if there is any change, Doc." He called over his shoulder.

"I will, Kaidan." Dr. Chakwas didn't lift her head but continued working on the terminal.

* * *

After contacting C-Sec and finding out that all the ammunition and guns that they had collected had mysteriously self destructed Kaidan ran into Unwin in CIC. She told him she was surprised that the Commander was back in med bay as she had spent some time with her early that morning and she seemed fine. She told him of their conversation including they new name the Commander had decided to call the enemy. He thanked her for her information and then called a meeting in Shepard's office with Tali, Adams, Liara, Garrus and Wrex. He checked on Shepard before the meeting but the doctor advised him there was no real change. She didn't say it, but he could tell she was worried. Once they were in her cabin he bought them up to date on what had happened, her condition and what was being done about it.

"So the fact that the guns disintegrated tells us that this was arranged by the Attackers. Unwin told me Shepard is now calling them the SADS instead. It stands for 'Silly Attackers that Destroyed my Ship' or something like that. Now I don't know if those two that have been watching her have anything to do with this but I'm not waiting to find out. Now this ship was being watched which we knew, I just think we didn't know how many were watching since we were so tied up in the shadows." Kaidan rubs his hand across his head. "I'm going to go out and talk to the female that saved Shepard's life. I'll take Garrus with me and we will see if we can find anything to tie them to the SADS." He dropped his hand to his leg.

"She isn't going to like that, Alenko." Wrex put his hand on the table and leaned forward. "She put a plan in place, she isn't going to want it changed. You know how unreasonable she can be when she doesn't get her way."

"Yes Wrex, I know, and when she is better I will gladly take my punishment, but we need to know if this is a threat or not. Shepard is holding her own, but the antibiotics are not working as fast as they should. I need to see if there is more information to be had. This is one avenue that is wide open to me and I am going to pursue it." Brows furrowed his look brooked no argument.

"Well, if you want to go talk to them, we are going to have every available hand outside and ready for anything. I don't want this going south, if you get hurt Shepard will have my hide." Garrus leaned back in his chair.

"I was thinking the same thing…" Kaidan pulled up a holo of the area outside the ship on his omnitool pointing to the pertinent areas. "Have the dock and area around the ship saturated with crew." Deactivating the omnitool he then looked at the engineer. "Adams, I asked you here to see what we can do about getting moving again. I know that we are not one hundred percent, but maybe we can move this to Arcturus Station or somewhere else." He folded his arms. "We are under too much observation here and if she is a target, someone is going to try again. Once she is better keeping her on the ship will be much harder, and she will be weak for a while. I am pretty sure she will think she is one hundred percent way before she is, so the more safeguards we put in place the better. It will be easier for us if we are somewhere in Alliance space." He held his arm out making his point before crossing it again. "I tried to contact Admiral Hackett but he appears to be unavailable for some reason."

"I will contact the brass and see what I can do through the engineering section. Tali and I can certainly get the ship moving." Adams sat forward leaning on the table. "We might miss some deliveries and have to wait longer once we are there, but you are right she would be safer in Alliance space."

Kaidan turns toward the turian and then the krogan. "Okay, Garrus, Wrex I need you two to set up the perimeter outside for me to go talk to the Shadows. I also need to see if I can get Councilor Anderson to talk to me, he has contacts, maybe he can get the ship relocated to Arcturus Station. His secretary said I could speak to him for ten minutes..." He looked at the crono. "In about twenty minutes from now. Think you can have it set for when the meeting is over? Have everyone in full armor?"

"Sure, Kaidan, the one thing we know is the layout of the dock." Garrus activated his omnitool and pulled up the schematics of the dock and started working out a strategy.

"And I have been scouting the area with Liara and Tali. I know just where we will do the most good." Wrex stood up.

"Adams, you can have Tali back once this is finished, it may be a couple of hours." Kaidan stood and pushed in his chair.

"Sounds good, Kaidan, good luck with the Councilor." Adams stood and headed for the door.

"Kaidan, can I check on Shepard for you?" Liara played with her hands nervously obviously worried.

Knowing she would not be able to concentrate until she saw Shepard was being taken care of, he thought of a quick solution. "She is sleeping, Liara, but if you duck in real quick you can get peace of mind before joining Wrex outside." Doc was with Shepard, she would make sure it was a quick visit.

"Thank you, Kaidan." Liara headed quickly for the door.

"Tali, if you could make sure any cameras in the area not C-Sec are disabled. It you have to disable the C-Sec ones, let them know first. I don't want an incident between us and them while our Spectre is incapacitated." Kaidan walked to the door with Tali, Garrus and Wrex.

"I'll do so, Kaidan. Good luck with the Councilor, the faster we get off here, the better." Tali said before she walked out the door with Garrus and Wrex close behind.

Kaidan turned to look back in the room making sure they left everything in order. He had made the bed before the meeting. He went over and pushed two of the chairs back under the table. He looked towards the bed as he started fingering the bracelet she had given him. Mentally berating himself not to let the fondling become a habit even though he knew it already had, he headed for the door and his meeting with the councilor.

* * *

Kaidan had arrived at the Councilor's office with four minutes to spare and the secretary said the Councilor was ready to see him right away. Anderson didn't need a whole ten minutes to talk to Kaidan, he agreed to help as soon as he heard the newest development. He would get a hold of Hackett and arrange a berth for the Antietam and guards around the ship for her safety.

Hurrying to the transport he sent a message to Garrus that he was on his way back and to meet him by the hub. He saw Garrus waiting as the vehicle came in for a landing. He jumped out and Garrus joined him as he headed straight for Amanda Grayston.

"Everything in place?" He looked around but didn't see Liara, Tali or Wrex right away.

"Yes, everything is ready. Doc said to tell you she is sleeping calmly." Garrus checked the perimeter again.

"Thank you, Garrus." He noted the locations of Wrex and Liara. Tali must be on the other side out of his line of sight. "Okay, let's do this."

He walked past the dock area and straight towards the hiding place of the Grayston woman. He saw Trainer pop from under his cover and head towards her, too. Kaidan and Garrus beat him, but only by a few seconds. As they were still a few kilometers away Grayston had stepped out from behind the crate she was using as cover and awaited their approach. Kaidan stopped in front of her then looked at Trainer as he arrived. He returned his attention to Grayston.

"I am Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, from the SSV Antietam and I am not here to beat around the bush. I want to talk to you about the attack on Commander Shepard." Kaidan's stance was combat ready.

"I know who you are, Lieutenant, or should I say Lieutenant Commander." She looked him up and down.

Kaidan raised his eyebrow but didn't react otherwise. "It's not official yet so Lieutenant will be fine. I want to know if you had anything to do with the attack on the Commander."

"She saved your Commander's life, why would you think we had something to do with the attack?" Voice loud in disbelief with a snide burr, Trainer indicated Grayston then folded his arms.

"Yes, well, according to the Commander, she was doing okay until you attacked two of the assailants ruining her element of surprise." Kaidan let a little smile come to her face.

"Ungrateful Alliance bitch." Trainer unfolded his hands taking a step forward.

"Miss Grayston, I did advise you that I was not here to play games. It would take more than a bit of name calling to upset me. Can you tell me anything about the attack on my Commander or not?" Kaidan ignored Trainer and spoke directly to Grayston,

"Why isn't the Commander here asking me herself? I thought she was a woman that likes to do things for herself." She looked from Kaidan to Garrus.

"She is recovering..." Kaidan started but Grayston interrupted.

"I tended her wound and she would not have needed more than twenty-four hours unless there were complications." She folded her arms and frowned her voice clipped and sharp. "What kind of complications are we facing, Lieutenant?"

"Again, Miss Grayston, did you have anything to do with the attack..."

"No, Lieutenant, I just wanted to talk to her, that's all. I wanted to ask her some questions. Maybe have an exchange of information. We saw she was heading out the back and hoped to intercept her before you did. Instead we saw the attack and tried to help. When she got shot I went to help her." She looked at Garrus again before returning her attention to Kaidan. "I knew you would try to stop me and I knew she didn't have long so Jason stalled you until I could get her stable. It still took longer than I would have liked." She folded her arms. "I had hoped that she would have thought saving her was worth coming to talk to me."

"She was considering it." Kaidan said honestly. "But circumstances intervened."

"Are you going to tell me what her condition is? I know she should be better by now." Grayston put her hands on her hips.

Kaidan looked at the woman. Shepard said you could tell when a person was lying by looking at them. She was right, of course. This woman was hiding something, but it wasn't the attack, he was sure of it.

"She has developed an infection." Kaidan didn't elaborate wanting to see how smart and how knowledgeable this woman really was.

"Not from the wound I cleaned she didn't, there was no way that she got infected from just that wound. What are you not sharing?" Snapping out her angry words she took a step closer to Kaidan, he stood his ground.

"It was an engineered infection. She was the target." Kaidan waited to see her reaction, it wasn't the one he expected.

"Engineered, why didn't you tell me, shit!" She raised her arm up activating her omnitool. "Lieutenant, the company I work for has made great advances in medicine, one of those advances is an antibiotic that is especially effective against synthetic infections. Here are the stats on the drug, its composition and it's components." She handed him an OSD from her omnitool. "I will have some delivered to your ship within the hour. I will include an extra vial as I know your Doctor will want to test it before administering. Tell her not to take too long. The longer these synthetic infections stay in the system, the more damage they do."

Kaidan looked at the OSD rolling it over in his hand. "I hadn't expected you to help us again, Miss Grayston."

"Lieutenant, I want Commander Shepard alive, she does me no good dead." She turned to leave.

"And why is that, Miss Grayston?" Kaidan raised his voice to get her attention watching her.

She turned back and looked him in the eye. "Because, Lieutenant, she is the only one who has any chance of defeating the Reapers." She turned and hurried off with Trainer following.


	18. Mending

As always, Bioware owns all.

Sorry for the delay... There is no excuse.

* * *

**Mending**

Kaidan rubbed his eyes trying to make sense of the words on the data pad in front of him. Where was that woman? She said an hour, it had been almost two. Was she just stringing them along?

"Lieutenant, you are needed at the airlock." Kaidan looked up as Unwin entered the comm room.

"Thank you, Unwin." He tapped the datapad, deactivating it as he stood and followed her from the room. He handed the pad to Unwin as he continued to the airlock.

As he approached the airlock Garrus was walking into the ship.

"I think this is it." Garrus gestured to the airlock with his head.

"Is it her?" Kaidan sped up.

"No, it's the Trainer subject." Garrus fell in step with Kaidan as he headed through the inner doors of the airlock.

Kaidan exited the ship and saw that Trainer was outside on the dock. Trainer looked up at him while he approached. He noticed the male was flanked by two C– Sec officers on either side and one behind him.

"Lieutenant, here is the medication that you need. Grayston said to remind you to tell the doctor that it needs to be administered as soon as possible to be the most affective." He held out a block that had two vials in it. "She said it is quite likely the fever will come back once or twice as the body fights it, maybe more times. The directions are on in the OSD."

Kaidan looked at the package in Trainer's hand for just a moment before grabbing it. "Thank you." He nodded as he watched the dark man for a moment. He noted that the man started to salute him, but caught himself. Kaidan would lay odds that Trainer was ex-Alliance. It gave them a place to look anyway.

Kaidan turned and entered the ship, knowing that Garrus would make sure that Trainer would be taken clear of the ship. He headed straight for med bay. Dr. Chakwas looked up from Shepard as he entered and hurried over to him taking the block from his hand. As he turned and secured the lock to give them a few moments of privacy, Kaidan passed on Trainer's reminder and information. He then went over to Shepard. She looked so pale and weak. Her hair matted to her face where it was long enough to touch it. He turned and looked at the doctor as she started her tests.

"How is she?" The worry in his voice was quite evident. He was not used to her looking so weak. He didn't mind taking care of her when she recovered from being shot, she would fight the restrictions until she was strong enough to have them removed. This thing took a lot more out of her, she had never looked this weak before. He didn't like it at all.

"Not good, she is fighting it, but she's losing. I hope this stuff works, because if it doesn't, I don't know what else to do." She placed a drop from one of the vials on a tray that had some kind of gel on it.

The gel expanded and covered the liquid. She placed a drop from the other vile on another gel tray. She looked at the console readout. "Well, they vials have identical ingredients, so analysis of one will prove the safety of the other." Dr. Chakwas tapped some buttons on the terminal in front of her then she cursed.

"What's wrong?" Kaidan walked towards her, getting a look at the terminal.

"There are three compounds in the ingredients that are unfamiliar to me or the Alliance data base. It's going to slow down the analysis process." Her hands started flying over the terminal tapping quickly entering commands. The gel acted to her tapping by changing color, as it further analyzed the compounds for danger.

"What can I do?" He clenched his hands at his side, his voice pushed through his gritted teeth. As much as he could do for the ship, he needed to do something here. The most important thing in his life was in that bed, and he wanted her back.

"Let me work. Go back and do what you have to do, Kaidan. I will get this in her as fast as I can, providing I know it's safe." She never took her eyes off the terminal.

He walked over to Shepard. Her hand had fallen off the side of the bed. He gently took her hand in his, feeling how hot her skin temperature was. Lifting up the cooling blanket he placed her hand underneath it. He lingered holding onto it and giving it a little squeeze hoping for something in return. There was no response from the woman on the bed. He let go and tucked the blanket in under her so that her arm couldn't fall again. He leaned down and cupped her cheek.

"Ari, wake up." He was close to her ear, using a soft voice. "I'm here waiting for you to open your eyes." He ran his hand down to her chin. She didn't react. "I love you, Ari. We are taking care of you, and I am here." He quickly kissed her and then stood up.

"You can take the night shift and sleep with her in here, Kaidan. You are a trained medic and someone is going to have to be in here with her at all times." He looked over at Dr. Chakwas, but she was still tapping on the terminal.

"Isn't Kernsey a medic?" He looked back at Shepard, weighing the questions against this solution.

"Yes, but he's a new graduate, and we know she was attacked. We are dealing with the unknown and an experienced medic would be best to spell me. It won't seem odd that you would take it on yourself, under the circumstances." She took a solution out of the drawer next to her and added a drop to one of the trays, using the other as her control. "It's not like you're going to be able to sleep much anyway, but in here, there is a chance you might if she is in the bed next to yours."

"The repairs are ongoing. I don't think I could spend twelve hours in here." He touched Shepard's cheek for a moment. "They are having problems with the crystals in the drive."

"Ten at the most, more likely eight. It isn't like they can't find you if they need you." She waved her hand towards the door indicating the rest of the ship.

He let his hand linger on her cheek for a moment longer and turned towards the doctor. "I know that you are doing this mostly for me, Doc. I will be here tonight when I can get free."

"I am doing it for both of you. If she wakes up, you will be the first one she asks for." She tapped on the input board some more before looking up at him. "Besides you are the best man for the job, and I trust you with her life." She quickly went back to her analysis.

Kaidan looked back at Shepard one more time before schooling his expression to neutrality and leaving the med bay.

* * *

Kaidan had spent a restless night trying to sleep as he kept waking to check on Shepard. She had not woken, but didn't seem to be getting any worse. When the doctor returned, he went to the mess to try and replenish his energy with a hearty breakfast. He sat across from Garrus and quietly ate his food. He looked up from his meal and saw the Serviceman approaching him. He tried to remember the man's name as he walked up next to him.

"Engineer Adams request you come down sir, and he would like Garrus to come, too." The enlisted man stood at ease before him.

Kaidan paused for a moment before the man's name suddenly came to him, damn he was tired. "Thank you, Looft, We will be right there." Kaidan finished up the last of the food as he stood up and grabbed his plate.

The Serviceman left as Garrus also picked up his dirty tableware. Kaidan grabbed it from him and tossed it all in the chute and then followed Garrus to the elevator.

Garrus and Kaidan walked in to a flurry of activity. Tali and Adams were at a terminal and there were panels open on both sides of the room.

Adams looked over, aware there were other members of the crew around. "Lieutenant, Garrus, good, I need you. I think we can solve the uneven power problem if we tune the crystals on all four terminals at once. No one here is as good with the minor adjustments as you two are. I need you to man the terminals over there while Tali and I man these two." Adams indicated the terminals on both sides of the room to Garrus and Kaidan.

"Will this solve the power problem that has been keeping us here?" Kaidan walked over and looked at the data pad in Adam's hand.

"Yes. It looks like they didn't tune the crystals before they were in place, and now there is no way to do it manually, so we have to do it, via terminal, in place. Problem is if you don't tune them at the same time, they might shatter. Who knows when we will be able to leave if that happens. Tali assures me it can be done, but we have to work together to do it." He tapped the terminal in front of him bringing up schematics. "I lost two of my best techs when the Normandy went down, that makes you two my next best choice. Are you in?"

"Does it mean we will be able to leave if we do this?" Kaidan asked as he looked over the schematics.

"Yes, most of the repairs and fine tuning can be done in transit. The rest can wait until we reach the station. Barring any attacks we should be fine, and since we are heading for Alliance space, I don't see that as a problem." Adams pointed some things out on his terminal for Kaidan and Garrus.

"Okay let's do it, when do you think we can be moving providing this works?" Kaidan stepped back and looked from Adams to Tali.

"Tonight, as soon as everyone checks in." Adams tapped in commands so all the terminals mirrored his. "You work on this one Lieutenant." Indicating on the screen the crystal he wanted Kaidan to work on. "Garrus, you do this one." Kaidan and Garrus headed to the two terminals on the other side of the room. "Okay when I say go we are going to tune them together. Keep a watch on the screen to see that your readings are not too far off from the other three. When they are all the same shade and tolerances we have done it. The last few degrees will be crucial." Tali and Adams turned to their terminals. "Okay, begin."

It was slow going, each had to coax the resonances to the right frequency slowly. It was stressful when one crystal would veer because it probably had a flaw and it took time to get it back to the zone that the other three were in. So far none had shattered and they were making headway. Then Kaidan's omnitool pinged and they stopped while he looked to read the message.

"Chakwas needs me for Shepard." He frowned as he looked at Adams.

"Well, if you want to go..." Adams didn't look happy.

"No, let's finish first. Doc is taking care of her and she couldn't be in better hands. If we can finish this we can get her to safety." Kaidan went back to the terminal.

It seemed to take longer now that he wanted it to be finished. They made adjustments and again another crystal flared and it took a while to get it back with the others. Finally they all rang true.

Kaidan stretched as he turned around and walked over to Adams. "I will have Unwin advise you when everyone is back on board." He activated his omnitool sending a recall notice to the crew. He noticed the time, it had taken them hours to tune the crystals. He sent Unwin the message to advise Adams when all were on board and headed for the med bay.

* * *

"No, we have to go back and get Ashley, we can't let her die." Shepard shouted as she thrashed around.

"How long has this been going on?" Having just entered the med bay Kaidan rushed to her side.

"Just a little while, she is delirious. I have been trying to get her temperature down, it spiked again when I sent you word. Now she thinks we are back at Virmire." Dr. Chakwas was working on Shepard on the other side of the bed. "It might be normal, from the notes, a high spike is expected during the first treatment phase." The frown on her face said otherwise.

"I wish she had left us word on how to contact her with questions. They have checked out of the hotel." Kaidan grabbed Shepard's hand. "Ari, please it's Kaidan. We are not over Virmire, we are on the Citadel."

Her eyes opened and she focused on him for a moment before staring off in another direction. "Lieutenant, you forget yourself. Using my first name, who do you think you are?" She closed her eyes. "No matter, we have to go back, we can't let Ashley die. There must be something we can do to save her. I just can't think of anything. Help me, Lieutenant." She pulled her hand from under the blanket and reached out for him so he took it in his.

"I will help you, Shepard. I will be here for you." Kaidan gently squeezed her hand as she fell into a deeper sleep.

"Looks like her temperature is starting to go down. I thought your presence would calm her when it first struck." She tucked in the cooling blanket. "Then she went to Virmire, she still feels Ash's loss. They were close."

"I know, she told me it was Ash that convinced her to give me a chance. She was attracted to me, but didn't want to break the rules. Can you imagine Ari not wanting to break rules to be happy?" He returned her hand under the blanket and tucked it in again. "But then she didn't know if I could make her happy then." He stepped back from the bed watching her face.

"Yes, well, I will tell you she went out of her way to try and stop her attraction to you. She would have talks with Ash and me until all hours of the night trying to figure out ways to stop her feelings. Ash and I encouraged her to go with her feelings." She smiled down at Shepard and chuckled. "Anyone could see it was something new for her, she never became attached before. She didn't know what to do."

"Yes, she told me she had liked to love them and leave them." He shook his head smiling. "Told me it was easier than shooting them." He looked up from Shepard to the doctor. "After Saren died, she still told me she didn't think we should be together. She thought it wouldn't be good for either of us. I was really disappointed when she made reservations for herself at some fancy facility for her shore leave after the destruction of the Citadel. I went to Eden Prime, to help rebuild. I like it there. I figured it would keep my mind off her." He looked down at Shepard lovingly. "There I was sleeping in a tent, out on the outskirts of a small settlement. I woke up and she was sitting there watching me sleep." He wiped the hair back from her forehead. "She asked me if it was okay with me if she changed her mind. I couldn't have been happier." He stepped back from her remembering the time of day. "Then I spent the rest of the week trying to fix all the stuff she destroyed by helping me rebuild things." He looked back up at the doctor and smiled. "It was a great week." He looked back down at Shepard. "I will be happy when this is over and she is better."

"So will I, Kaidan. The good news is we are learning a lot about the attack. The bad news is, I suspect we are not done learning." She activated her omnitool and waved it over Shepard.

He looked down at Shepard again. "Well she seems to be resting again now. I will be back in a few hours unless you need me again." He touched Shepard's cheek before looking up at the doctor. She nodded at him in acknowledgement and he turned heading for the door.

* * *

Shepard opened her eyes and looked into the beautiful tired brown eyes that belonged to the man she loved.

"Hi." Her voice low it sounded cracked and weak.

Lifting her head he gave her a sip of water before returning the glass to the bedside table. Taking her hand in his he held it tightly to his chest. Kaidan wiped her hair back off her forehead with his other and smiled.

"How are you feeling?" His concern creased his brow.

"Like I can't lift my head off the pillow by myself. My head feels stuffy, like I have been asleep too long." She shook her head and frowned. "I don't like the feeling. You look tired." She pulled her other hand from beneath the blanket.

He spoke in a soft voice. "Yeah, I've been busy. It's the middle of the first sleep cycle, Doc's in bed as well as most everyone else. We figured it would be safer for me to take the night shift. We take turns, Doc and I, so someone that you trusted was here at all times." He gently rubbed his thumb back and forth across her forehead. "I will be sleeping in here with you. Spelling her as one of the better medics on board."

"You haven't been sleeping Kaidan, I can tell. I bet you've been watching me." She reached her hand up touching his face. "Kaidan, you have to sleep. I will be fine."

"Yeah, well now that you've woken up, maybe I can sleep." He kissed her fingers as she gently ran them over his lips.

"How long was I out?" Her fingers caressed his cheek.

"Forty-two hours, not counting the time you slept in your room before I found you. Adams was able to get the engines fixed and we are heading to Arcturus Station."

"No, you tell him no Kaidan." He pulled his hand back as she tried to raise her head but fell back against the pillow.

"Ari, I want to get you to a place we can protect you." He pushed her hair back from her face. "That infection, it was engineered attack you specifically. We need to be in Alliance space where we can protect you. At least until you're well and you can defend yourself again." He leaned into her hand as she caressed his cheek.

"We are not running from them Kaidan. I need to speak to the Shadows first. I really don't want to go to Arcturus Station." Her voice weakened as her hand dropped to her side.

"I will talk to them and arrange a meeting a week from now at a different location… how about Eden prime." He released her hand but still rubbed her head with his thumb.

"You really love that place. A week, that seems like a really long time to wait." Her eyes closed.

"Maybe I should make it two, just to make sure you're fully recovered?" She didn't answer him, and he smiled. "I will take that as a yes then. Two weeks it is."

Kaidan watched her face as she slept. She seemed much calmer now, like she was really asleep and not unconscious. He considered climbing into his bed when his comm beeped and he saw Joker's tag.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" His voice sounded cranky even to his own ears.

"Kaidan, you need to get up here." The stress in Jokers' voice had him moving for the door before the sentence was finished.

"I am on my way." He sprinted up the stairs as he noticed the sparse night crew doing their duties. He entered the cockpit just short of a run. "What's going on?"

"Hanley woke me as he detected some traces of the SADS engine signature. It looks like they recently passed the ship path. In itself, nothing, since they were here in the area before we got here." Joker tapped the terminal bringing up a rendering of the ships path. "Then he noticed it again. That's when he woke me."

Kaidan looked from Hanley, who had sat in the copilot's chair back to Joker. "You think they are searching for us?"

"It looks like a criss cross search pattern, so yeah, I think they are." Hanley looked at Kaidan. A man of few words, it was the most Kaidan had heard from him in a week.

"That's why he called me. I did an analysis of the pattern. They are certainly looking for something, and considering the attack, I am thinking it's us." He turned to look at Kaidan, his hair all messed from bed and no hat. "There is another problem."

Kaidan walked between the two seats so he could see what each man was looking at. He noticed the location of the ship. "We are in Alliance space."

"Yeah, that's the problem. We thought they wouldn't try and find us here. Seems we were mistaken." Joker's hands flew across the terminal as he input commands to the ship.

Kaidan rubbed his head as his tired mind struggled to assess the threat to their safety. "Hanley, you said a criss-cross pattern, is it standard? Can we avoid them?" Kaidan put his hand onto the back of the copilot's chair and bent down looking at the readout over Hanley's shoulder.

"I think I can work out their path; that is if they keep the same pattern. If they change it, I could run right into them." Joker glanced at Kaidan. "We have not upgraded the shields enough yet. I'm ready for them, so there is a chance we could escape, but it would be a slim one, if the last attack was anything to go by." Joker frowned before returning to his terminal. "I wouldn't want to chance it."

"I would rather avoid them. I don't think we want to lose another ship, and I personally do not want to go through that again." He reached over and tapped on the terminal to get a look at the projected flight path to Arcturus Station that Hanley had on the screen in front of him.

"We are on the same wavelength there. I don't want to lose this baby to them." Joker sat forward adjusting his legs.

"Can you guys navigate through the asteroid belt? I know it's not the safest route, but it is the least expected one." Kaidan pointed to the path that would take them through the cloud of rocks.

"It's risky, and it will slow us down. But I think you're right, it would be the best way to avoid them." Joker input the trajectory change in his terminal. "Hanley and I will work together to get us through safely." Hanley's hands also started to fly across his terminal as he readied the forward sensors for higher sensitivity.

"I will have Garrus come up and assist. He can see if he can track the SADS." Kaidan turned to head back towards the CIC. "Keep me in the loop Joker."

"Will do." The stress in Jokers voice made it deeper.

Kaidan activated him comm and advised Garrus of the situation. Garrus assured him he was on his way. Entering the comm room Kaidan tapped up a secure connection on the terminal. He sent a message apprising Alliance Command of their current status and requested more patrols for their approach path as well as upgraded protection once they were on Station. He received the acknowledgment text that they were 'reviewing his request'. He then sent a second communication to Anderson's office telling him of the situation. Because they were in part under Council command also, maybe the Council could spare some smaller ships to assist in the protection of the route. It didn't hurt to ask.

Finished with the comm terminal he returned to the med bay. Shepard seemed to be still sleeping comfortably. He went to her side and leaned over pressing his cheek to hers needing the comfort it brought. She did not seem to be running a fever now and she even leaned into his cheek letting out a small sigh. It certainly gave him extra solace. He turned his head and gave her a peck on her cheek before moving to get in bed next to her. Maybe he could get a few hours of sleep while Joker navigated them through the asteroid field. They would call him if he was needed and between the three of them he knew they had it well covered.

* * *

"You knew I didn't even want to wait one week, why would you make it two?" Shepard glared at him her eyes silted slightly her mouth in a frown. The only surprise was that she wasn't raising her voice or throwing things at him.

Kaidan stood at a reasonable distance from her side since it was midmorning and any of the new shipmates could come into the med bay, but his arms ached to have her in them. She was sitting up with some of her pillows from her own bed behind her. There was a tray of uneaten food in front of her and her locket sitting on her chest between her breasts.

"I told you a week, but then I told you I thought I should make it two when you were so weak. You didn't object." She had had the doctor call him to her. His hand jerked at his side as he tried to control the urge to reach for her.

"What did you do, wait until I fell back to sleep to ask me?" She folded her arms across her chest and thrust her chin at him.

"You had just spoken to me. I didn't think you were asleep." He tried very hard to keep his face neutral and hoped that she was still weak enough not to notice any miniscule changes in his demeanor, no luck.

"Devious!" She looked away from him and started fingering her locket.

"Look, two weeks are not going to make any difference." He raised his arms and shrugged before returning them to his side.

"You don't know that." She still didn't look at him and spoke softly. "It might make all the difference in the universe. She did mention the Reapers in this meeting you had with her? I think that is really important." She shook her head gently a few times. "I wish you had waited for me."

"I know you wanted to do it yourself, but you were in no condition to do that." He took a step towards the bed hand reaching out toward her, but then dropped his hand and stepped back ridged. "I was just trying to get more information, like you said you wanted. It turned out to be beneficial. They were able to supply us with the antibiotic that finally started to clear the infection." He glanced towards the door frowning before returning his attention to her. "We still don't know how long it's going to be for you to get your strength back."

"It can't be soon enough for me. I wanted to be the one to speak with her, Kaidan, I told you that. You should have waited until I was better." She frowned, adjusting the blankets, an angry look on her face.

"You never said you didn't want me to talk to her, you only asked why she would talk to me instead of you. Besides, you wouldn't be getting better if I hadn't talked to them." She scowled at him before returning her attention to the blanket. "She did talk to me, kind of, and I still don't trust them." He folded his arms to try and stay the urge to touch her.

"Semantics, you knew I wanted to be the one to talk to her." With quick movements she picked at the covers looking down at her fingers.

He kept his voice comforting, still amazed she was so calm, since her movements conveyed she was really angry. "And you will be, Ari. I made the appointment. You should be back to your old self in two weeks…"

"How far are we from the Citadel, maybe we can change it for sooner." She looked at him.

"Twelve hours out. They would probably be gone by the time we got back. They had already checked out of the hotel." He shook his head. "And before you ask, no, they didn't give me a way to contact them."

"We should turn around and try to contact them." She sat forward and silted her eyes angrily at him. "That's what I want to do."

"And you could do that once Dr. Chakwas releases you as fit for duty." He smiled innocently at her.

She banged herself back into the pillows "I hate being ill, it's worse than being injured." Then she sat up quickly and almost fell forward and he caught her slowly lowering her back on the pillows.

"Feeling dizzy?" She nodded at his question while he activated his omnitool. "Looks like the fever is coming back. They said this might happen." He tapped some commands sending the information to the terminal. "Dr. Chakwas is just in the mess having an early lunch, she should get the update in a moment." He completed the update and closed his tool. "Do you see now why I made it for two weeks?"

"Yes." Her eyelids were starting to droop.

"This little discussion has taken almost all your energy. Here please drink a bit of juice before you fall back to sleep, you didn't eat anything." He picked up the glass from the tray and she took it with both hands. He put his hand on her leg and watched the glass tremble as she brought it to her lips.

"How about some toast, I had them put peanut butter on it, the way you like it." He picked up the bread and handed it to her, catching the glass with his other as she almost dropped it. "This will give you more energy." He put the glass back on the tray.

He watched her take a bite and chew it. Her eyelids drooped some more as she swallowed. She took another bite and as she swallowed that one, her eyes closed all the way. He reached up and took the toast out of her hand. Then turned quickly as the door opened.

"What's happening?" He moved the breakfast tray out of the way for the doctor.

"I think she just fell asleep. As you can see from the numbers she is having a fever spike again, I knew you might what to run some tests so you could add it to the research you are doing on this." He stepped back out of her way so she could approach the bed.

"Yes if they are going to use engineered attacks, the more data we have the better. It'll increase our chances to beat it quicker the next time." She checked the medication terminal next to the bed. "It looks like her latest dosage was just injected, I will watch for any changes." She turned to him. "Go get something to eat, you look like hell."

"I'm just tired, that's all." He rubbed his forehead. "She was fine, then all of a sudden she wasn't. It was fast."

"Yes, but according to the notes that woman provided, that is normal for this stage of recovery. I'll watch her, so go eat." She shooed him towards the door. "I'll send you updates and you can always connect to the terminal. I'm sure she will sleep for a while. Now go."

"Alright, I'm going. He put his hands up in surrender and turned and left the room.

* * *

Kaidan was still eating when Garrus came in for his lunch. Once he picked up his lunch, he sat across from Kaidan.

"Has she woken up again?" Garrus opened his sealed food tray and removed his plate.

"She did for a little while, but she's sleeping again." Kaidan took a drink from his glass.

Joker walked into the mess and approached Kaidan. "Before you ask, we have safely navigated through the smallest part of the asteroid field on this side of the station. I figured I would get a bite before I have to work through the next part. Hanley can handle the big ones." Joker rubbed his eyes. "He is keeping them between us and the projected flight path of the SADS. That should give us some additional cover. I am going to get some coffee too, you need anything?" He headed off to pick up his food as they both shook their heads.

Taking a mouthful of food Kaidan looked at his omnitool as it pinged. He swallowed and activated his tool

"What's up?" Joker gestured towards the omnitool as he sat next to Garrus. "You just made a face." He added at Kaidan's frown.

"Shepard has a fever again; it has stabilized but isn't going down yet." He deactivated his tool and continued eating.

"Hey, she'll pull through, she's strong. And I'm sure she's been in heat before." Kaidan choked on his food as Joker burst out laughing. "What? What did I say?" Garrus looked from one to the other.

"Nothing..." Kaidan coughed again attempthing to clear his breathing passage.

"Oh boy, she would just love it if you told her that." Joker banged on the table.

"No, Joker, No..." Kaidan coughed again.

"What happened? Didn't I get the human terminology right?" Garrus looked at the red faced human across from him then the chuckling one next to him. "I'll never understand humans." He went back to eating his meal.

"Humor doesn't always translate. Just take it from me, what you said was really funny in that connotation." Joker banged on Garrus' back.

"It's just that the word you used translated into a word that has two meanings for us, that's all." Kaidan grabbed his glass and drank, hoping to clear the last little tickle in his throat.

"What word? If you don't tell me I might make the same mistake again, Kaidan." Garrus reached out to Kaidan.

"Here, this is the word and the two definitions." Kaidan activated his omnitool and taped some commands and Garrus' omnitool pinged.

Lifting up the tool to his face Garrus looked at what Kaidan had sent to him. His mandibles flared as he read the definitions. "This is a joke right, you guys are kidding me?" He looked at Joker.

"No, it was epic." Joker banged Garrus on his shoulder.

"You're right I don't think she would want me to say that to her." Garrus looked down and concentrated on his food. He changed the subject. "You know I thought that the old Mako was in bad shape because it was old, but the new one is in just as bad a shape as that one was." Garrus took a bite of something brown off of his plate.

"The old Mako wasn't old really. We had just been commissioned and it had only been off the Normandy for tests. That was just before you joined us." Kaidan smiled as Garrus' mandibles flared.

"You're joking right. That thing had to be years old." Garrus dropped his fork in disbelief.

Now Kaidan laughed. "I am not joking. I think it had been out all of three times before you came to the ship."

"Then I hope that your Alliance engineers learn something from ours with this joint ship building. I was wondering why I kept having to tweak the new engine. I will just have to get it up to where the old one was. I really miss that machine." Garrus shook his head before eating something red off his plate.

"Yeah, considering what we had to do to get this ship moving, I doubt it." Joker shook his head as he continued to eat his food.

"You know, Joker, I was wondering, did you get any active scans from the SADS ship before it attacked the Normandy?" Kaidan put his utensil down, as he considered the thoughts running through his head.

"None that showed up on the ship's scanner, why?" Joker took a sip from his glass.

"I was thinking about something Shepard said, that they were looking for us. Right before she got you to the airlock, they shot the ship again. Why?" Kaidan tapped on the table listing his points as they went through his head. "The ship was almost completely destroyed at that point. The fuselage breached in such a way that she said the whole roof was gone. Now I got the crew in the escape pods pretty quick. The pod readout showed heavy breaches on all decks, when I checked the readings after we were jettisoned." He pointed to Joker. "At that point you and Shepard were the only ones left alive on that ship. The ship was going down and pretty much destroyed."

"Don't remind me." Joker shook his head, a grimace on his face.

"Right, so why still shoot?" Kaidan looked from Joker to Garrus. "There was no way to save the Normandy at that point. Shepard thinks that they wanted to utterly destroy the ship that defeated Sovereign, but what if it was more than that?" Kaidan tapped his finger on the table again. "What if it was her? The attack on the Citadel the other day, they were looking for her. They didn't even care if she was alive."

"What are you getting at, Kaidan?" Garrus put his utensil down too and leaned forward. "You think it was a microscan, a pinpoint scan. They were scanning for Shepard?"

"Yes, I think they were scanning for Shepard. They can send out thousands upon thousands of microscans and because they are so small, most scanners don't register them. I think the reason we missed the scan was because we had the settings on broad scan." He pointed to Joker. "You have to recalibrate for microscans. I think they are after her, not us. I think she was right they were looking for the Normandy, but for her, not all of us."

"That could be a problem." Garrus sat back and scratched his head. "Microscans are used because they go unnoticed. That is what they are for. I doubt the Antietam's scanners are made to be that sensitive."

"But can we do it? Her safety, and ours, depends on it." Kaidan activated his omnitool. "That is what we need to know." He tapped some commands on the tool then activated his comm. "Tali, can you come up to the mess for a minute." He paused obviously listening to her internal response. "It will only be a few moments, I need to run something by you. Have Adams come too, if he can free himself for a few minutes." Kaidan paused again then deactivated his comm obviously receiving an affirmative response. "Between the five of us I bet we can adjust the sensors to at least warn us of microscans, even if we can't find the source. Better yet if we can work out a way for the ship to reflect them away, we can keep us all safe. There is a chance that the stealth systems would keep us safe if we could do that."

Adams and Tali entered the mess and after grabbing something to drink, sat down with the others. Kaidan brought them up to date on what he was thinking and they put their heads together to see if they could come up with a workable solution to repel the microscans they believed the SADS were using to find Shepard.

"Kaidan, I admit that it seems that they knew she was still on the ship before it was blasted from space. What makes you think they were using microscans?" Adams took a sip of his coffee.

"On the Citadel, they knew where Shepard was. We thought that she was being watched." Kaidan looked from one to the other. "But we were watching and so were the Shadows. Neither of us noticed any other tails. I think after Shepard was injured the Shadows would have mentioned the other tails, or even tried to prevent the attack." Kaidan paused going over the points in his head to make sure his conclusions were sound. "They were tracing Shepard. Probably through her DNA that they somehow got a hold of."

"Okay, then maybe we can make some changes to the shielding to reflect any microscans off in another direction, so they don't know she is here and they can't tell we're here." Adams activates his omnitool and nods at Garrus and Tali to activate theirs. "The shield is not set for such small tolerances, because they are not seen as a threat. Besides no one uses microscans because of the resources that it uses up. This must be some ship they have."

Kaidan pulled up his omnitool. "If they are microscans, they would be strong for the return trip, but not necessarily strong enough to break through shielding. They depend on holes in the shield make up. If we put up a lite charge seamless shield under the current one, giving it reflective qualities, would that work?" He tapped the input into his omnitool sending it to the other three.

"That might just work, it wouldn't even take much power." Tali tapped her tool adding some equations and sending it to the other four. "It certainly wouldn't increase the power load, and if that is how they are searching for Shepard, it would afford her some protection."

"This is all supposition of course. We can't prove it was microscans, but if it was, it is something that we can prevent easily with the light shielding idea." Adams made a few more notes in his omnitool and deactivated it. "We will get on this right away, Lieutenant. I can have it put into place once we are on Arcturus. Come, Tali, let's get working on this. Garrus, can you work on the cockpit settings to allow for another shield? I take it you are going up there again for the voyage through the other half of the asteroid belt." He stood up looking at Garrus.

"Yes, I am heading there now. I will keep in touch with you and work on that while I am there assisting Joker." Adams patted him on the shoulder and headed back for the elevator with Tali right behind him.

"We had better get back to the cockpit. Hanley just sent word we are heading back through the small field on the other side now." Joker stood up and grabbed his tableware. "See you later, Kaidan, give Shepard a hug for me." He tossed his dirties in the chute and headed for the cockpit. Garrus followed after him, nodding at Kaidan.

Kaidan finished his now very cold meal before heading up to the comm room to go over the daily reports.

* * *

"Why Liara? Why can't you stay?" Shepard was sitting up with her pillows piled behind her again.

"Because it doesn't look right. I just stopped in to see if you were doing better. I am going to eat in the mess with the crew. We are letting Kernsey stay with you for your meal, since you are doing a bit better. She needs the practice, and it looks better to the crew." Kaidan crossed his arms to keep from touching her.

"I don't have to eat. Don't have her come, you know how she is." Shepard was whining she knew, but Liara just bugged her. She always wanted to touch her. Shepard didn't feel well enough for that. Besides she wanted Kaidan to stay.

"You have to eat. I can tell how you are feeling just by looking at Liara, so I am having Liara do it. I know how you feel about it, but I am in a selfish mood. If I can't be here I need someone who cares as much as I do to make sure you eat. We can both agree, that's Liara." He tried to be firm. She just looked so frail lying there among the pillows. She had only slept for six hours and it was just about dinner time. Liara just gushed when he asked her to do this for him. He knew that she would come and find him after she had finished. He would be able to see how Shepard was doing and still be where he needed to be on the ship. "I will be back at bed time. Ari, you know this is how it has to be. Any one of the new people can report us for fraternization."

"I'm feeling selfish, too." She started to play with her locket. "I don't care what they think. I'm sick and I want you here." She held up her hand when he started to answer her. "I know it's not possible, but it's what I want and I'm just telling you so you know how unhappy that I am. I realize you can't fix it, but I want you to." The frown covered her face. Why did things always have to be so complicated? She never should have given in to her stupid carnal urges. She never should have fallen in love. Now she wanted him all the time. She wanted him to hold her now, and he couldn't. She hated it. "You and Dr. Chakwas go and eat. I'll not cause trouble for Liara. I will not give you any more to worry about." She settled down further into the pillows and looked at him.

He reached out his hand to her and she took it. He gave it a squeeze and then released it. "Hopefully you'll be on the mend without any relapses and back to your old self soon enough. When you're up to it, I have some things I want to talk to you about."

"Where are we now?" Her voice seemed weaker already.

He activated his tool while answering her question. "We should be clearing the asteroid belt and heading for Arcturus." He said absentmindedly as he checked her vitals.

"Kaidan, I told you, I don't want to go to Arcturus Station. They're going to make us have a ceremony. I hate ceremonies. My mother will be there. Please take me somewhere else, Kaidan, Please." She was whining again. She had to stop this, but right now, she couldn't. Arcturus Station, her mother's ship was stationed out of there. She would have no way to avoid a presentation ceremony. She would be the same rank as her mother. That would probably rub her the wrong way. She was a good mother as mothers went, but she had Shepard's temper. On the other hand it would be nice if her father could attend. She was certainly a daddy's girl.

"I'm sorry, Ari, but it's already arranged for us to go to Arcturus, it's too late to change it now. I don't want to anyway. It's the safest place for you right now. I'll explain it all when you're better." He turned around and looked as the door opened. He waved the crewmember over to the bed. "Commander, you remember Corporal Kavi Kernsey. The Corporal is a new medic and will stay here with you while the doctor has lunch." He smiled as she scowled for a moment before clearing her expression so the approaching medic wouldn't see it. She was doing as she agreed and being good. "I have to go. Liara will be here any minute with your dinner, Commander." He turned to Kernsey. "Dr. T'soni will be sitting with the Commander while she eats. Dr. Chakwas is in the mess if you need her. The Commander's temperature is slightly raised and I sent the latest stats to the doctor. Just let her know if there is any drastic sudden change."

"Yes, sir." Kernsey turned and walked over to the terminal and logged on pulling up Shepard's vitals on the read out.

Kaidan turned to Shepard and smiled. "There, you're in good hands, Commander, I'll relieve Dr. Chakwas later, so I'll see you then, if you're still awake." He winked at her and nodded before turning to head out the door.

Kernsey looked over at Shepard. "Do you need anything Commander?"

"No, thank you, Corporal." Shepard had shoved her heart under her shirt, but found herself reaching for it. She frowned as she remembered why she had done it.

"Is something wrong, Commander?" Kernsey got up and walked over to the bed activating her omnitool. "Any pain?"

"No, no pain." Shepard crossed her arms in front of her and waited for the medic to finish her readings. She still felt weak and hated it. Killing those idiots that attacked her wasn't good enough. She needed to get to the bottom of this, that wasn't going to happen sitting here in bed.

She didn't know what Kaidan had been doing to find them, but she knew he wouldn't tell her while she was weak.

"Well, it looks like your fever is stable. If you need anything, or feel any pain you let me know. I'm here to help you." She turned around at the sound of the door, just in time to see Liara walk through with a big smile. Shepard's frown returned.

"Hi, Shepard, I have your dinner. I'm so glad to see you up. I was able to stop in a few times, but you were always sleeping." Liara put her food in front of her. "Kaidan said you need to eat everything, or at least most of it. You should be really hungry by now." Liara pulled up a chair as the Corporal went back to the terminal. Liara opened up the heat seal on the soup first. "Maybe start with the soup, it won't be too heavy. What do you think?"

"Okay." Shepard took her spoon and started on the soup. She tried to ignore Liara, as she played with the fingers on her other hand as she ate. Liara chatted away about some dig she had been on, but Shepard wasn't really paying attention. She just was concentrating on eating her food. She finished the soup and Liara gave her the sandwich. She ate the first half and then couldn't eat anymore. "Liara, I am full right now, can I finish it later maybe? If you leave the tray here, I could eat it when I get hungry again."

"Oh, sure. I'm sure that would be okay. You haven't eaten for a few days, I'm not surprised that you're not that hungry. Here though, Kaidan said you have to drink this." She handed Shepard one of the energy drinks that Kaidan drank to keep up his high calorie intake due to his biotics. Shepard made a face.

"I don't like the taste of that, Liara. I don't want to drink that." Shepard pushed the hand with the drink away.

"But Kaidan said you had to drink it. He said that you needed to drink it." Liara was starting to get flustered. Shepard rolled her eyes, if Liara went out of here flustered, Kaidan would know she had caused it and would be disappointed in her. She had said she would cooperate.

"Alright, I guess I need to drink it then." She took the drink and sipped some and then made a face.

"Oh, I'm sure it isn't that bad Shepard." She took the container from Shepard and took a sip. She made a face. "Okay, it isn't the most pleasant taste, but he did say it was good for you." She handed it back to Shepard. "It isn't too much, you should drink it. He wouldn't give me anything bad for you."

Shepard looked at it and frowned. She considered spilling it, but he would know she did it on purpose. All this thinking was making her tired. She steeled herself and drank the rest of the drink, making a yucky noise at the end of it. She handed it to Liara. She leaned back in the bed and made herself comfortable and closed her eyes. She felt Liara take her hand as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Liara had told him she was sleeping soundly when Dr. Chakwas had returned. Her fever had remained steady with no spikes for hours. Maybe she was finally getting over it. Kaidan certainly hoped so. He would be much happier when she was back with him. He was tired as he headed for the med bay to take over from the doctor. It would be nice to spend some time with Shepard, even if she was sleeping. He grabbed a fresh tray of food before heading into the med bay. When he walked into the med bay the doctor looked up and smiled at him.

"Still no spikes and it has gone down a bit." She pointed to the terminal. "I think we might be over the worst." The relief on her face was real.

Kaidan put the tray down next to the bed and looked over at Shepard sleeping peacefully and smiled. "Really, this is over?" He looked back at the doctor. He was afraid to get his hopes up until she confirmed her findings.

"Yes, the numbers and tests say she is fighting it. She's sleeping to heal. She's over the worst." She touched the screen toggling through the results so he could see. He walked over and stood next to her, watching as she cycled through the results.

Kaidan felt like he could burst he was so relieved. He knew he was smiling like a cat who had eaten the canary but he couldn't stop. She would be back to her old self soon, yelling and giving him hell. He wouldn't have it any other way. "Thank you, Doc, I needed to have some good news, and this is the best." He hugged her and walked her to the door. After she left he secured the door and then went over to the bed where Shepard lay sleeping.

He quietly pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down. He watched her for only a few minutes before her eyes opened and quickly looked around the room. She relaxed significantly when she saw him sitting next to the bed. He smiled at her and gently took her hand and kissed it and then he buried his head into her side. Relief washed over him as he felt her hand running through his hair.

"Kaidan?" He looked up at her face responding to her soft voice. "I really don't like the taste of your energy drink, please don't make me drink it anymore."

He laughed at her. "Honey, just one more tonight, okay. I want you to get stronger. It'll help, I promise." He kissed her hand again. "That reminds me I brought you a fresh tray of food." He got up to get the tray, then put it in front of her. "Liara said you did good today, but I thought fresh would be better than leftover. Doc tossed your tray away, anyway." He opened the heat seal on the main protein dish and handed her a utensil.

"So what's been happening?" She started to move the food around on the plate. The first bite was always the hardest when she didn't feel well. She also didn't like eating when she first woke up which he well knew. "On the ship I mean. You know, what's going on?" She played a little longer then looked up at him. Kaidan stood there with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. He pointedly looked at her then at her food. She sighed and took a bite of the food.

"Everything is fine. We should be at Arcturus Station sometime tomorrow." He uncrossed his hands and sat on the bed next to her opening her bread.

"Wait, we should have been at Arcturus Station by now. What happened?" She put down her utensil and looked at him.

He picked it up and held it out for her waiting for her to take it from him. She frowned but took it from his hand. He broke off a piece of bread and handed it to her. She took the bread and took a bite. She looked at him as she chewed. "Okay, we took the long way around because I thought it would be safer." He pointed to her tray and she took another bite before he continued. "We went through the asteroid belt."

"You took my ship through and asteroid belt? How it that safer?" She put the utensil and bread down again and he picked it up and held it for her. She crossed her arms and frowned staring at him. He reached for her hand but she buried it under her arm.

"Okay, if someone was searching for us, we made it harder by going through the belt." He waved the utensil at her.

"And put the ship in danger, there is more to it than that, Kaidan. You would not put the ship in danger if there wasn't a good reason." She looked down at the utensil he was waving at her and then looked back at his face. She steeled her expression and looked in his eyes.

"Okay. We found trace of the SADS ship in our path. It was a precaution, that's all." He waved the utensil at her and she looked at it, then looked back in his eyes. "Joker, Hanley and Garrus, were in the cockpit, that is why I thought it would be safe." He held the utensil up to her again. "Yes, I wouldn't put the ship in danger, unnecessarily."

She reached up and took the utensil from his hand. "Unless it meant saving me." She said quietly right before she put more food in her mouth.

"To save us all. That ship is dangerous." He picked up the bread to hand it to her again.

"Yes, to save us all." She repeated his words and took the bread from his hands. She slowly worked her way through the food with him helping now and then, handing her bread, her drink or opening a heat seal. He handed her the energy drink and she made a face, but she took it. He smiled as she steeled herself and drank it very quickly then grabbed for the water to wash her mouth out.

He removed the tray, then climbed into the bed with her and held her in his arms.

"You know I really missed you the past couple of days, Ari. Barging around the ship, getting into mischief, doing reports and just eating meals together. It was different without you around."

"I don't do mischief, they are projects." She rubbed her hand along his arm.

"Yes, I know you think they are, but what is a project to you, usually causes mischief to someone else. I never thought I would miss it, until it was taken away." He kissed her forehead. "You seem a bit warm still, but much cooler then you were."

"How long do you think I will feel this way?" She looked up at his face.

"Doc said that the test results look good and that your blood count was excellent, so it will just take as long as your body needs to get rid of the infection. I think maybe a few days and you will feel a bit better. It might take a little longer for you to get to full strength." He kissed her gently on her nose. "Resting speeds up that process you know."

Nodding her head she snuggled up close to his chest and relaxed. He would alternately brush her hair with his hand or rub her lower back. They cuddled like this for a while until she fell asleep. Gently extricating himself from her arms he adjusted her pillows so she would be comfortable and pulled the blanket over her. He took her tray out to the chute and tossed it. Returning to med bay he changed his clothes and climbed into bed. Hoping that this would be the first good sleep he would have in three days, he dimmed the lights before finally relaxing and closing his eyes.


End file.
